The Illuminated Alphabet: An Inspirational Introduction to Creating Decorative Calligraphy Hardcover – December 12, 2017

This is a gorgeous book. I am taking a calligraphy class and wanted ideas on illuminated letters. The authors do a great job of highlighting various styles of calligraphy, provides helpful information on tools and supplies and step by step instructions on how to recreate some of the design ideas in the book. I highly recommend this as a reference book for anyone interested in calligraphy.

My only disappointment in this book is that I think it's slightly incorrectly titled: it should really be "Illuminated Letters" because there are no full alphabets of both capitals and small letters. I want to design needlework pieces with Tempus Fugit ("time flies"} and Carpe Diem ("seize the day!") so I have my eye out for decorated capital T's, F's, C's and D's with matching lowercase letters and I cannot do it with this book alone. That said, if you're even looking at the reviews of these books, this is definitely money well-spent on a pretty gorgeous book. Right now, prices for either hardcover or paperback are well under $10 whereas look what the cost of new ones is.For me the single best thing about this book is the recognizable letter "J" from the Grimbald Gospels--yay! my first initial is often given short shrift! (My husband, son, father and all sibs' first names are J's as well!) This book was completed in the 11th century in Winchester England at the time of Alfred the Great, so it is late Anglo-Saxon. Unfortunately, I can't tell what the word is that begins with J. It looks like JNPR. You'd think it might be the Book of John but it says on wikipedia that it's the Book of Matthew. Regardless, it is the lovely example of the Romanesque alphabet and displayed in lingering detail on pages 56 to 59.The Book of Kells. The Lindisfarne Gospels. The Lincoln Psalms. The Ramsey Psalter. A French Book of Hours from the late 14th century. Homer's Iliad from the late 15th century in the Vatican. Even gliding into William Morris and Modern Revival, this book really goes to town on the Galleries of each era of illumination. What hits you on just about every page is gold reflecting off of it. The photography is marvelous, choices of which letters to focus on is great, and the panoply of colors is rich. And, goofy me: I never heard the word "majuscule" before even though I have a number of books on illuminated letters. I took Latin so I should have known that "minuscule" and "majuscule" come from "minor" and "major." Lowercase and uppercase letters. Who knew? The glossary in the back of the book is quite helpful.I will never buy vellum or get my hands on gold leaf or all the inks, paints, pens, and brushes these projects call for. But just look at the bright shining gold pages 32 and 33 where the twelve letters are displayed. Compelling.Very pretty book.I can also recommend this book: The Bible of Illuminated Letters: A Treasury of Decorative Calligraphy (Quarto Book)

This wasn't as extensive as I thought it would be. Nice brief history section. Decent material section, if your already an artist, which I am, so most of the materials I'm already familiar with. There is no information at all about the different styles of initials and how to build the designs themselves. This is a how to trace an already existing letter (like from a book or print out) and transfer it and the step by step is how to paint and gild it, which is the part I wasn't worried about. Again, if you're already an artist then you can read between the lines because every project has a few pages from the artists sketchbook so at least you can see how they practice and build references. Plus it is like a beginning in the categorization of the different styles of lettering which is the base for the initials and designs.So, overall, it's beautiful, well written, easy to understand and follow. Just leaned more towards the painting side. Which is only half the battle.

This book provides the information you will need as well as the list of materials you will need to learn the lovely art of illumination. The writing is clear, and the plentiful pictures aid your accessing the knowledge necessary to execute beautifully illuminated letters.

The most charmingest of books, even if you never pick up a pencil/pen to do it - step-by-step instructions for illuminated letters of the various ages - just grand for a gift to an artistic person or older kid who could really get into it. It's a discussion of the history of letter forms, decoration, followed by the instructions for an illuminated piece per alphabet - plus an alphabet to choose from to make your own designs for each font era... and, it's just fun to read and look at.The last few I gave for gifts had to be purchased 2nd hand, so - very glad this is back in print again. It's been out in hardcover & paperback before, used copies were getting rare aka expensive. These new hardcovers are less expensive than used paperback copies...Only complaint - one dustcover was torn in the shipping - enough to make a difference in a gift, so - keep that one for yourself!

This is my go-to book to copy samples of letters for illumination. I wish it had more samples, though.What I like:1. Gives me a little bit of information about the history of Illumination2. Gives me pretty samples, simple and complicated that I can copy: different styles, different colors, different letters.3. Explains easily the technique to use. I, however, don't pay much attention to it since I am quite novice at Illumination and I just use painting and thick paper. But this will be useful if/when I want to move to the next levelWhat I wish were better:1. More diverse samples for all the letters of the alphabet

I took this book out of the library and loved it so much that I wanted my own copy. As an artist, I love the pictures in this book and the instructions are fairly easy. You do have to have some artistic talent to begin with though. I don't ever copy "word for word" anyone else's work, so I mainly use it as a starting point and for a reference. Even if you don't plan on using it, the history and artwork make it a beautiful book to add to your library.

This book has advanced techniques, which I’m eager to try!

An excellent book providing detailed advice, instructions and illustrations on how to create beautiful illuminated letters. As a beginner I found it very easy to follow as it clearly sets out the stages on how to build up each individual letter, as well as the equipment, materials and different methods required. I particularly liked the format of the book as it sets out the differing styles/periods of illuminated lettering. I think it would also be excellent for the more accomplished student as it provides information on designing letters too.

Brilliant. Lots of history and helpful information about calligraphy. It shows you different styles, like medieval, celtic, ect, how to apply gold leaf, and alphabets to copy from and learn. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to do calligraphy or is just interested in the history or designs.

A superb book laying out the foundations of various styles through the ages and giving clear stage instructions on how to produce copies of those styles as well as spurring you on to make your own styles.

Beware - this book is exactly the same as a previous one under a different title. Previous one i bought was The Art of Illuminated Letters and this one is The Illuminated Alphabet. Husband checked book shelf for my birthday and assumed a different book. So disappointed and now have to pay for the postage return to amazon. Book itself is good but I feel a cheap trick has been played.

Thanks to this book, I was able to draw some Ottonian letters for my entire family at Christmas. The only thing missing is some examples of all letters.