Bookarts Calligraphy Type

Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark!

Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark!

$17.95
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"So chock-full of interesting facts and ideas that it will leave most readers saying, 'Wow!'"--Booklist


Few punctuation marks elicit quite as much love or hate as the exclamation mark. It's bubbly and exuberant, an emotional amplifier whose flamboyantly dramatic gesture lets the reader know: here be feelings! Scott Fitzgerald famously stated exclamation marks are like laughing at your own joke; Terry Pratchett had a character say that multiple !!! are a 'sure sign of a diseased mind'. So what's the deal with ! ?

Whether you think it's over-used, or enthusiastically sprinkle your writing with it, ! is inescapable. An Admirable Point recuperates the exclamation mark from its much maligned place at the bottom of the punctuation hierarchy. It explores how ! came about in the first place some six hundred years ago, and uncovers the many ways in which ! has left its mark on art, literature, (pop) culture, and just about any sphere of human activity--from Beowulf to spam emails, ee cummings to neuroscience.

All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia

All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia

$29.99
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From the "deliriously clever" (Boston Globe) Simon Garfield, New York Times bestselling author of Just My Type, comes the wild and fascinating story of the encyclopedia, from Ancient Greece to the present day.

"A brilliant book about knowledge itself." --Deirdre Mask, author of The Address Book

"Magnificent. ... A perfectly styled work of literature - at times sad, at times funny, but always full of life." --Engineering & Technology Magazine

The encyclopedia once shaped our understanding of the world. Created by thousands of scholars and the most obsessive of editors, a good set conveyed a sense of absolute wisdom on its reader. Contributions from Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Orville Wright, Alfred Hitchcock, Marie Curie and Indira Gandhi helped millions of children with their homework. Adults cleared their shelves in the belief that everything that was explainable was now effortlessly accessible in their living rooms.

Now these huge books gather dust and sell for almost nothing on eBay. Instead, we get our information from our phones and computers, apparently for free. What have we lost in this transition? And how did we tell the progress of our lives in the past?

All the Knowledge in the World is a history and celebration of those who created the most ground-breaking and remarkable publishing phenomenon of any age. Simon Garfield, who "has a genius for being sparked to life by esoteric enthusiasm and charming readers with his delight" (The Times), guides us on an utterly delightful journey, from Ancient Greece to Wikipedia, from modest single-volumes to the 11,000-volume Chinese manuscript that was too big to print. He looks at how Encyclopedia Britannica came to dominate the industry, how it spawned hundreds of competitors, and how an army of ingenious door-to-door salesmen sold their wares to guilt-ridden parents. He reveals how encyclopedias have reflected our changing attitudes towards sexuality, race, and technology, and exposes how these ultimate bastions of trust were often riddled with errors and prejudice.

With his characteristic ability to tackle the broadest of subjects in an illuminating and highly entertaining way, Simon Garfield uncovers a fascinating and important part of our shared past and wonders whether the promise of complete knowledge--that most human of ambitions--will forever be beyond our grasp.

Art & History of Calligraphy

Art & History of Calligraphy

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Ranging from the Middle Ages, when beautiful calligraphy was a way of celebrating the divine, to the renaissance of the art form by William Morris, to the modern school of calligraphers following in the wake of master typographer Edward Johnston, Patricia Lovett charts the development of calligraphy through the history of European manuscripts. A renowned expert on the history of the form as well as a fine calligrapher herself, she writes--uniquely--from a practitioner's point of view. Large-scale full-color reproductions enable the reader to see the fine detail of each manuscript, and to understand more clearly than ever before the painstaking craft and great artistic skill that were necessary to create these strikingly beautiful pieces of writing.
Blooks: The Art of Books That Aren't

Blooks: The Art of Books That Aren't

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This is the first book published on the subject of book-shaped objects. It is a catalog of an exhibition that took place at the Grolier Club in New York from January 28 through March 12, 2016.

Calligraphic Drawing: A How-To

Calligraphic Drawing: A How-To Guide

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Calligraphic Drawing, written and illustrated by artist Schin Loong, is a step-by-step guide to the pictorial side of calligraphy. Learn how to make calligraphic flourishes, then apply the technique to draw 15 different flourished animals. You'll also find instructions for embellishing letters and drawing ornamental cartouches.

In the past, masters of penmanship advertised their copperplate skills by shaping their calligraphy and flourishes into elaborate pictorial designs. Now the art of the flourish is back! With her fresh approach to this age-old art form, Schin will take you confidently through each step, from choosing your pen, nib, and ink, to creating calligraphic animals that express your own imagination and artistry. The basic steps for the strokes are simple, but as you learn each new pattern and stroke, you'll watch your drawings develop into ever more complex and beautiful compositions.

By following the step-by-step instructions, you can create stunning drawings of a pigeon, swan, crane, rooster, jellyfish, goldfish, peacock, parrot, owl, raccoon, elephant, puppy, rabbit, fox, and zebra. Each exercise includes a photo of the animal, followed by an illustration and written guidance for each numbered step. You'll find helpful tips and encouragement throughout. At the back, a gallery showcase provides examples of Schin's own artwork to inspire you in your own flourishing pursuits.

Whether you're a designer, calligrapher, doodler, or just picked up a pen, this guide to drawing with flourishes will enlighten and inspire.

Calligraphy: A Comprehensive Guide to Beautiful Lettering

Calligraphy: A Comprehensive Guide to Beautiful Lettering

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Discover the timeless art of beautiful writing! This introduction to creating calligraphy combines beginner-friendly clarity with thorough guidance and, of course, gorgeous examples. Written and illustrated by master calligrapher Jane Sullivan, this book introduces nine major calligraphic styles, with detailed diagrams and tips for writing each letter. Sub-sections include histories of each alphabet; step-by-step tutorials for embellishing your calligraphy; and ways to showcase your elegant lettering, from a hand-made envelope to a decorative dinner menu. Printed in full color, its a pleasure to look at as well

Discover the timeless art of beautiful writing! This introduction to creating calligraphy combines beginner-friendly clarity with thorough guidance and gorgeous examples.

  • Introduces nine major calligraphic styles, with detailed diagrams and tips for writing each letter.
  • Sub-sections include histories of each alphabet, step-by-step tutorials for embellishing your calligraphy, and ways to showcase your elegant lettering.
  • Full color photographs and illustrations throughout.
CRAFT: AN AMERICAN HISTORY

CRAFT: AN AMERICAN HISTORY

$30.00
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A groundbreaking and endlessly surprising history of how artisans created America, from the nation's origins to the present day.

At the center of the United States' economic and social development, according to conventional wisdom, are industry and technology-while craftspeople and handmade objects are relegated to a bygone past. Renowned historian Glenn Adamson turns that narrative on its head in this innovative account, revealing makers' central role in shaping America's identity. Examine any phase of the nation's struggle to define itself, and artisans are there-from the silversmith Paul Revere and the revolutionary carpenters and blacksmiths who hurled tea into Boston Harbor, to today's "maker movement." From Mother Jones to Rosie the Riveter. From Betsy Ross to Rosa Parks. From suffrage banners to the AIDS Quilt.

Adamson shows that craft has long been implicated in debates around equality, education, and class. Artisanship has often been a site of resistance for oppressed people, such as enslaved African-Americans whose skilled labor might confer hard-won agency under bondage, or the Native American makers who adapted traditional arts into statements of modernity. Theirs are among the array of memorable portraits of Americans both celebrated and unfamiliar in this richly peopled book. As Adamson argues, these artisans' stories speak to our collective striving toward a more perfect union. From the beginning, America had to be-and still remains to be-crafted.

CREATE A SIGNATURE YOU LOVE: A

CREATE A SIGNATURE YOU LOVE: A

$34.99
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Equal parts penmanship instruction and art-therapy, Create a Signature You Love is a fun and easy program that will retrain your hand to write in smooth, precise strokes and rewire your brain to enjoy and succeed in creative projects.


In her candid narrative style, author Brooke Vega walks you through her own journey from "I'm not an artistic person" to "I can learn to be artistic and have fun doing it."


Step-by-step, she'll show you how she transformed her own signature from childlike to sophisticated and provide all the tools you'll need to do the same.


With this comprehensive guide and workbook, you'll learn:


How to finally get your hand to obey your mind and produce fluid, confident cursive writing.

How to choose letter styles and flourishes for a beautiful, unique signature.

How to stop believing that you're stuck with "naturally bad handwriting" and realize that talent has little to do with beautiful penmanship.

How to critique your work instead of criticizing it.

How to practice effectively for maximum progress with minimum effort.

Practicing art is intimating if you believe that creativity is reserved for those born with innate talent.


Change your mind and Create a Signature You Love.

First Flowering

First Flowering

$15.00
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Probably no book designer of the twentieth century has had more written about him, his work, or his life than Bruce Rogers. He was, as his primary biographer Joseph Blumenthal observed, the ultimate artificer of the book. His career as a working designer spanned six decades, but arguably his finest (and certainly his happiest) years were spent at Cambridge's Riverside Press where he took over from D. B. Updike in 1896 and where he remained until 1912, overseeing his own department and designing at least sixty titles for Houghton Mifflin's list of Riverside Press Editions.
This small and elegantly produced volume contains an essay by Jerry Kelly outlining Rogers's tenure at Riverside, a checklist of all the work he executed there (for Houghton Mifflin as well as others), and twenty pages of reproductions displaying the full range of BR titles, specimens of printing that--as he later wistfully remarked--"give me a definite satisfaction."

Giambattista Bodoni, His Life and His Word

Giambattista Bodoni, His Life and His Word

$19.95
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A lively, lavishly illustrated biography of the great printer Bodoni, vividly describing his work, life, and times while justifying his reputation as the "prince of typographers."

This is the first English-language biography of the relentlessly ambitious and incomparably talented printer Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813). Born to a printing family in the small foothill town of Saluzzo, he left his comfortable life to travel to Rome in 1758 where he served as an apprentice of Cardinal Spinelli at the Propaganda Fide press. There, under the sponsorship of Ruggieri, his close friend, mentor, and protector, he learned all aspects of the printing craft. Even then, his real talent, indeed his genius, lay in type design and punch-cutting, especially of the exotic foreign alphabets needed by the papal office to spread the faith.

Bodoni's life changed when in 1768 at age 28 he was invited by the young Duke of Parma to abandon Rome for that very French city to establish and direct the ducal press. He remained in Parma, overseeing a vast variety of printing, some of it pedestrian, but much of it glorious. And all of it making use of the typefaces he personally designed and engraved.

This book goes beyond Bodoni's capacity as a printer; it examines the life and times in which he lived, the turbulent and always fragile political climate, the fascinating cast of characters that enlivened the ducal court, the impressive list of visitors making the pilgrim- age to Parma, and the unique position Parma occupied, politically Italian but very much French in terms of taste and culture. Even the food gets its due (and in savory detail). The illustrations--of the city, of the press, of the types and matrices--are compelling enough, but most striking are the pages from the books he designed. And especially, pages from his typographic masterpiece, the Manuale Tipografico, painstakingly prepared by his wife Ghitta, posthumously published in two volumes, and displaying the myriad typefaces in multiple sizes that Bodoni had designed and engraved over a long and prolific career.

Intriguing, scholarly, visually arresting, and designed to Bodoni's standards, this title belongs on the shelf of any bibliophile. It not only makes for compelling reading, it will be considered the biography of record of a great printer for years to come.