Best Books ...

[lukx]

What for learning purposes I prefer paper book instead of pdf and internet. So what book is must have for learning Calligraphy and overall handwriting improvement ?

[Randal6393]

Welcome to FPN, lukx! Love seeing new members here. There is a list of books at the top of the Broad~Edged Pen section here, covers many types and styles of handwriting and calligraphy. There are many books on handriting available on www.iampeth.com. Why not look them over and try Amazon or Alibres for hard copies?

 

Enjoy,

[Tasmith]

My favorites:

Michael Sull, American Cursive Handwriting; http://www.spencerian.com/ I recommend the three hole punched version over the spiral bound as you can take out the pages if needed.

Margaret Shepherd, Learn Calligraphy; http://margaretshepherd.com/bk_learn.html

Fred Eager, The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting; http://www.amazon.com/The-Italic-Way-Beautiful-Handwriting/dp/002079990X

Stephen A. Ziller, Book One-Business Writing; http://www.zillerofkc.com/learning-aid

While not a calligraphy book per se, it has tips on improving one's writing: Margaret Shepherd, The Art of the Handwritten Note; http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Handwritten-Note-Communication/dp/0767907450

Edited March 29, 2015 by Tasmith

[patrickfp]

I am biased. I love italic, and these are what I would recommend, even if I am just an amateur still learning.

 

Italic Handwriting by Tom Gourdie.

It's a small book with not too many pages. Very good to get started.

 

Lloyd Reynolds' book and videos

I would recommend the videos more. They are free, but VERY helpful. Learning from a book is good, but learning from both a book and instructional videos is even better.

 

Jaqueline Svaren's book

I just learned about this book five minutes ago, and I think it's safe to say that it's a wonderful book.

[Maurizio]

If by "calligraphy" you mean italic letters, then you're first book should be "Calligraphy in 10 Easy Lessons" by Elenor Winters.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Calligraphy-Easy-Lessons-Lettering-Typography/dp/0486418049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429958801&sr=8-1&keywords=calligraphy+in+ten+easy+lessons

 

It's direct, doesn't waste your time, and full of good advice besides the basic instruction in the italic letters.

 

Lloyd Reynolds' book and his videos are also a good place to start:

http://www.amazon.com/Italic-Calligraphy-Handwriting-Exercises-Text/dp/0800842847/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429959164&sr=8-1&keywords=lloyd+reynolds

 

Fred Eager's book is also very good and brimming with lessons and advice, but, in my opinion, it's better for lessons in cursive italic than formal italic.

 

Tom Gourdie's books are good.

 

But I highly recommend Winters' book. I'm no expert, but I'm slowly starting to become proficient in italic thanks to her book.

 

Re general writing I agree with Tasmith. Michael Sull' book is a great book if you want good, very comprehensive lessons from a modern literally Master Penman.

 

 

For general handwriting improvement there are several books available many of which are listed on the pinned section of the Broad Pen forum.

 

"Write Now" is popular.

 

"Fix It Write" is good and goes back to fundamentals

 

"Teach Yourself Better Handwriting" has some good advice and useful exercises.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Maurizio

[Gourish]

Hi all..I'm too in a similar quandary..rediscovered my fondness for fountain pens couple of months back..got a sizable collection of mine now..trying my hand at penmanship and calligraphy.. Can you guys suggest some more decent books preferably ebooks..

[Maurizio]

Unfortunately, neither Lloyd Reynolds' books, nor Elenor Winter's italic calligraphy book are available in digital format; neither is Fred Eager's excellent book which is actually out of print - surprised that some other publisher hasn't already bought the rights, or that its original publisher hasn't re-published it. But, as all too frequently in other departments of life, art or excellence doesn't always get acknowledged, or make money.

 

I don't know about the other titles; I'm sure there will be at least some of the books mentioned above available digitally; you'll have to check each title individually.

[patrickfp]

Writing, illuminating and lettering can be found here: https://archive.org/details/writingilluminat00johnuoft

 

I strongly believe that Lloyd Reynolds' book is not very helpful if not paired with his videos. His videos are invaluable. He gave so much detailed explanation in them.