in the introduction to the book masters of calligraphy, originally published in 1923 in german under the title meister der schreibkunst aus drei jahrhunderten, there is the following: “today the charms of a thriving calligraphy, expression and beauty, are in danger of perishing. handwriting in everyday life is disappearing or becoming superficial or coarse. with it yet another branch of honorable human artistic endeavor is dying out.” that was initially written in 23 and with each successive printing, in 36 and again in 81, the sentiment became more true. by now i think it’s safe to say the art of handwriting, as it was once understood, is no longer dying but really and truly dead.

here’s some more from the book’s intro:

handwriting could and should be the most direct personal expression of human visual creativity. the hand that wields the pencil, pen, or brush is stirred so vigorously by the moods, temperament, and even the character of the writer that we are able to distinguish and interpret the features of a man’s writing just as we do his face. creative people feel the urge to go beyond the purely necessary, beyond mere, legibility, and to arrange the letters, words, lines,  and sections into a surface pattern, to enrich them with linear flourishes, the overflow of their high spirits. writing becomes art.

indeed. below are a few of the hundreds of fine examples of the handwriter’s art as collected in the book. (click each for full sized version)




weyess, zurich 1662




grahl, dresden 1670




carpenter, harlem 1620




roelands, vlissigen 1616




hercolani, bologna 1570




pisani, genova 1640




van den velde, haerlem 1621




allais, paris 1648




senault, paris 1667




barbedor, paris 1659




cocker, london 1660




richard clark, portsmouth 1758

they are pretty alright. but we can’t really morn handwriting’s passing can we? on the one hand it’s a shame. the care and artistry of proper handwriting were lovely things. on the other hand i’m grateful to not be compelled to put that same care and artistry into every single bit of writing i do. what a hassle that’d be. imagine a post it reading “gone to the store” intricately inked with a thousand curling flourishes. no thanks. so as with other victims of progress handwriting will now be relegated to the world of the artists alone, which is fine i think, they’ll take good care of it.

if you believe all the statistics we have only the weakest grasp on our language as it, and it’s weakening still. so should a mangled language be interpreted into anything other than pixels and throw-away copy-paper pigment? why should words like “ain’t” and “nucular” get any artistic treatment? emoticons will do just fine for we philistines i think.