The following is directed at beginners in their quest for proficiency in flex-nibbed writing. If you are already well-versed in the mysteries of this art, then I apologize for stating the obvious.

There is a widespread misconception concerning flex nibs and Copperplate-style writing.
A nib with the widest possible degree of flexibility can produce spectacular results in writing Ornamental, Spencerian script and, indeed, in personal flex-nibbed writing. These nibs were made to produce wide, swelled strokes. A typical, currently available nib of this type is the Hunt 101 which is capable of producing shaded strokes of 3.5mm width.

It is not widely appreciated that a nib capable of this degree of shading, is not ideal for Copperplate-style writing which attempts to emulate the engraver's burin of the 17th-18th century. It is generally accepted that the finest examples of this style of writing is shown in "The Universal Penman" by George Bickham. He was an engraver as well as a calligrapher and his book shows engraved "enhancement" of the work produced for publication by the English writing masters of the period. Subsequent Copperplate writing is an attempt to copy this beautiful work, with a flexed nib. This is a restrained style of lettering and in this work, there are very few, if any, examples of shaded strokes of more than 1.5mm in width. In the following example, it is apparent that in Copperplate, every straight downstroke is shaded, as closely as possible to the same extent and is consistent in width. This is extremely difficult to control with a very flexible nib and, in fact, a nib with more moderate flexibility such as the Gillott 303 with its maximum opening of about 2mm is better suited to the task.



Although I'm describing dip nibs here, the same principle applies to Fountain pen nibs. If your intention is to write Spencerian script, or a version of your own flex-nibbed writing, then the "wet noodle" very flexible nibs are what is required. If, however, it is your intention to study the early English Roundhand which has become known, by general usage, as Copperplate-style writing, then a pen with a nib similar to the Gillott 303 with its moderate flexing, is your ideal.

caliken

Caliken,

I very interesting piece from you. I'm not very well versed in penmanship, particularly compared to your hand, however am tempted to invest some time into practicing a new style and I guess that copperplate would be a god starting point. I do own a nib that I wold say has a semi-flex nib and through some doodling have discovered that it's not all that easy to create the desired effect!

If I were to look for a nib to produce the desired shading for copperplate where would I start?

I always look forward to seeing your posts and your splendid display of writing talent.

Best regards,

Matt.

Thanks much for this post. I don't have the courage to try any form of Copperplate, but I have an interest in the documents of the 18th century. I've noticed that many of the documents don't have much contrast of line weight. For instance, here's an example from Captain Cook's journal from his first voyage:

Page from Cook's journal

What writing implement would he be using here? A steel pen? A quill?

On that voyage, there was some problem encountered while they were in Brazil. Joseph Banks wrote a letter to the Viceroy of Brazil and received this reply. I assume that this is a more "official" form of document (and writing) and has shows the influence of engraving on the letterforms:

Viceroy of Brazil's response to Banks

These examples are from the National Library of Australia's manuscript page of their digital collection.

Again thanks, caliken. Your posts are always appreciated.

Doug

Very interesting post. I think I got into a discussion with Richard Binder about which came first the engraving or the writing with ink. He said ink then engraving I said engraving then ink!


Kurt

Matt :

It seems to be generally accepted by those who practice copperplate, that the Gillott 303 nibs are the best for this style of writing. They have good flex but the tines only open to about 2mm maximum which is ideal for control. Writing the shaded, parallel straight downstrokes with a nib which is too flexible is very difficult.

These nibs are available from www.scribblers.co.uk

A fountain pen nib has to open without too much pressure to a minimum of about 1.5mm for Copperplate handwriting.

Thanks for your comments

caliken

I'm sorry if I misled you, Kurt - I'm afraid that Richard is right.................it's ink then engraving then ink!

The writing masters of the 17th century, produced copy books of their work for tuition, by having their writing engraved onto copper plates which were then used to produce books in quantity. The style at this time was known as Round Hand. The engravers were very skilled in their use of the engraving tool, the burin, and they smoothed out any irregularities in the original writing. As a result, when George Bickham produced his monumental work "The Universal Penman" what we are seeing is the original writings 'cleaned up' to an extent.
The engraved copybooks were then used as a model for handwriting and so we have gone full circle.
The calligrapher is trying to write, using an engraved model, hence the difficulty in this style of writing.

Thanks for your interest.

caliken

These are very interesting documents, Doug. You raise a question which has bothered me for some time - the transition from quill to steel nib. I have read that the first steel nib was produced in 1803, but in his writings, Daniel Defoe makes reference to a "steel pen" in 1726
I suspect that both implements ran side by side for some time before the steel pen took over. If this is correct, Cook's Journal dated 1768 could have been written with either quill or steel pen.

caliken

So in fact the roundhand was a precursor to copperplate but was not exactly the same such that the engravers by what they could produce were then the exemplar that ink writers then tried to copy and what we now call copperplate. Depending on how far back you want to go you can take either side of the discussion

Kurt

That's right, Kurt, but the situation was even more interesting than that.

The original script produced by the English writing masters was written not with a pointed, flexible quill, but with an square-edged, fine quill. The work was then submitted to an engraver for the production of copy books, and with the used of a fine, pointed tool called a burin, the letters were engraved onto a copper plate.

As they had at their disposal, great skill and a tool capable of producing hairlines and swelled strokes of any width, they probably couldn't resist the temptation to "improve" on the original lettering. As a result the copybooks, whilst very beautiful, were very difficult, and in some cases, impossible to copy with an edged pen.

A more successful attempt to copy the swelled strokes of the burin, was made possible by the development and adoption of the pointed, flexible quill which was superceded by the invention of steel nibs, many years later.

As English Roundhand, now generally known as Copperplate, is an attempt to replicate, by hand, work originally produced by an entirely different method, it is IMO rightly considered to be the most difficult of all handwriting styles.

Engrossers or Engravers script is probably closest of all to the engraved ideal, but it is drawn with pen and paper manipulation, and is not a form of handwriting.

caliken

So copperplate is in fact the attempting of flexible nibs to a burin's mark. Sort of what I said but was disputed.

kurt