Origins of Calligraphy
The question of when calligraphy originated probably interests everyone who wishes to study calligraphy. Calligraphy probably originated in China but no precise date is given in ancient Chinese history. Legend says that during the reign of the Yellow Emperor a man named Cang-Jie invented the formalised Chinese language. Calligraphy came after invention of the language. This would attribute the invention to 4,600 years ago, but this is something of a legendary tale and may not be credible. What is interesting, however, is that archaeological discoveries since the birth of new China have authenticated that a formal language came into existence some 4,500 years ago in China. It surely follows that calligraphy entered an embryonic shortly thereafter.
History & Development in the Arab world
The early history of Arabic writing is obscure, and what historical records do exist are controversial. What we know for sure is the Arabic language is very ancient but was not a written language until perhaps the third or fourth century. What the earliest written forms looked like we can only guess at from studying parallel cultures. Inscriptions on stone suggest both unconnected and connected letter alphabets were in use. The connected letter alphabet is recognizable as the forerunner of the true Arabic alphabet.
We do know that a small number of people in the Prophet Muhammad’s lifetime knew how to read and write as the Prophet had secretaries, or scribes, to write for him, as he himself was unlettered. What did this writing look like? Perhaps the preserved letters of the Prophet may be of greater help here than early Koran manuscripts. The letters are either authentic or copied from originals in look and content, While the dates of the early Korans cannot be demonstrated the letters, on the other hand, must represent contemporary writing practice and may even be in the hand of some of the scribes who made the first complete mushaf under the caliph Abu Bakr. Too much early material is simply gone forever, and we will never be certain.
From what little we know, a picture emerges of a practical, crude writing system that was available to the scribes. It was a cursive, “soft,” or layyin script, produced with a blunt pen tip. Just possibly another version existed for very special uses—a hard, “dry,” or yabis script, which would have been written with a chisel-edged pen on prepared animal skin (parchment or vellum). Evidence from petroglyph inscriptions suggests that this script, too, was known in the earliest Islamic period. The script would soon be used for copying the Koran, though the date is uncertain. The Andalusian Koranic scholar Abu Amr ad-Dani (died. 1052 A.D) describes seeing many early Korans, but he does not mention the script or page materials, only the spelling and contents.
Europe
Uncial (4-8 centuries)
Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. From the 8th century to the 13th century the script was more often used as a display script in headings and titles. Early uncial script most likely developed from late Old Roman cursive. Early forms are characterized by broad single stroke letters using simple round forms taking advantage of the new parchment and vellum surfaces, as opposed to the angular, multiple stroke letters which are more suited for rougher surfaces, such as papyrus. In the oldest examples of uncial, such as the De bellis macedonicis manuscript in the British Library, all of the letters are disconnected from one another, and word separation is typically not used. Word separation, however, is characteristic of later uncial usage. As the script evolved over the centuries, the characters became more complex. Specifically, around AD 600, flourishes and exaggerations of the basic strokes began to appear in more manuscripts. Ascenders and descenders were the first major alterations, followed by twists of the tool in the basic stroke and overlapping. By the time the more compact minuscule scripts arose circa AD 800, some of the evolved uncial styles formed the basis for these simplified, smaller scripts. Uncial was still used, particularly for copies of the Bible, tapering off until around the 10th century. There are over 500 surviving copies of uncial script, by far the largest number prior to the Carolingian Renaissance.
There is some doubt about the exact meaning of the word. Uncial itself probably comes from St. Jerome's preface to the Book of Job, where it is found in the form uncialibus, but it is possible that this is a misreading of inicialibus, and Jerome may have been referring to the larger initial letters found at the beginning of paragraphs.
The term uncial in the sense of describing this script was first used by Jean Mabillon in the early 18th century. Thereafter his definition was refined by Scipione Maffei, who used to refer to this script as distinct from Roman square capitals.
Half-uncial (6-9 centuries)
The term half-uncial or semi-uncial was first used in the mid-18th century by René Prosper Tassin and Charles François Toustain, and despite its common use and understanding, it is not a very accurate name - it is not really derived from regular uncial, but it does look similar and shares many of its features; sometimes, especially when both were developing, the two scripts were used simultaneously in a mixed-uncial script.
Like uncial, half-uncial derived from Roman cursive. It was first used around the 3rd century and remained in use until the end of the 8th century. The early forms of half-uncial were used for pagan authors and Roman legal writing, while in the 6th century the script came to be used in Africa and Europe (but not as often in insular centres) to transcribe Christian texts.
Half-uncial was brought to Ireland in the 5th century, and was then carried to England. There, it was used up to the 8th century, and developed into the insular script after the 8th century.
Merovingian and Visigothic script (8-9 centuries)
Merovingian and Visigothic script was a medieval script so called because it was developed in France during the Merovingian dynasty. It was used in the 7th and 8th centuries before the Carolingian dynasty and the development of Carolingian minuscule.
There were four major centres of Merovingian script: the monasteries of Luxeuil, Laon, Corbie, and Chelles. Each script developed from uncial, half-uncial, and the Merovingian charter scripts. There was also a Merovingian cursive script, used in charters and non-religious writings. All of these types were later influenced by Carolingian script, which eventually replaced it entirely. Along with resemblances to Carolingian and Visigothic, Merovingian shares some features with Beneventan script.
Old Italic script (9-13 centuries)
Old Italic script - script, also known as chancery cursive, is a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It is one of the most popular styles used in contemporary Western calligraphy, and is often one of the first scripts learned by beginning calligraphers. Italic script is based largely on Humanist minuscule, which itself draws on Carolingian minuscule. The letters are the same as the Humanist capitals, modelled on Roman square capitals. The Italian scholar Niccolo Niccoli was dissatisfied with the lowercase forms of Humanist minuscule, however, finding it too slow to write. In response, he created the Italic script, which incorporates features and techniques characteristic of a quickly-written hand: oblique forms, fewer strokes per character, and the joining of letters. Perhaps the most significant change to any single character was to the form of the a, which he simplified from the two-story form to the one-story form now common in most handwriting styles.
Old Italic script under the influence of Italic movable type used with printing presses, moved towards disjoined, more mannered characters. By the 1550s the Italic script had become so laborious that it fell out of use with scribes.
The style became increasingly influenced by the development of Copperplate writing styles in the eighteenth century. The style Italic script used today is often heavily influenced by developments made as late as the early 20th century. In the past few decades, the italic script has been promoted in English-speaking countries as an easier-to-learn alternative to traditional styles of cursive handwriting. In the UK this revival was due in part to Alfred Fairbank's book A Handwriting Manual (1932).
Gothic script/Black Letter (11-15 centuries)
Black Letter, also known as Gothic script, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to 1500. It continued to be used for the German language until the twentieth century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes the entire group of faces is known as Fraktur. Black Letter is not to be confused with Old English, despite the popular though untrue belief that it was written with Black Letter. Old English pre-dates Black Letter by many centuries.
The question of when calligraphy originated probably interests everyone who wishes to study calligraphy. Calligraphy probably originated in China but no precise date is given in ancient Chinese history. Legend says that during the reign of the Yellow Emperor a man named Cang-Jie invented the formalised Chinese language. Calligraphy came after invention of the language. This would attribute the invention to 4,600 years ago, but this is something of a legendary tale and may not be credible. What is interesting, however, is that archaeological discoveries since the birth of new China have authenticated that a formal language came into existence some 4,500 years ago in China. It surely follows that calligraphy entered an embryonic shortly thereafter.
History & Development in the Arab world
The early history of Arabic writing is obscure, and what historical records do exist are controversial. What we know for sure is the Arabic language is very ancient but was not a written language until perhaps the third or fourth century. What the earliest written forms looked like we can only guess at from studying parallel cultures. Inscriptions on stone suggest both unconnected and connected letter alphabets were in use. The connected letter alphabet is recognizable as the forerunner of the true Arabic alphabet.
We do know that a small number of people in the Prophet Muhammad’s lifetime knew how to read and write as the Prophet had secretaries, or scribes, to write for him, as he himself was unlettered. What did this writing look like? Perhaps the preserved letters of the Prophet may be of greater help here than early Koran manuscripts. The letters are either authentic or copied from originals in look and content, While the dates of the early Korans cannot be demonstrated the letters, on the other hand, must represent contemporary writing practice and may even be in the hand of some of the scribes who made the first complete mushaf under the caliph Abu Bakr. Too much early material is simply gone forever, and we will never be certain.
From what little we know, a picture emerges of a practical, crude writing system that was available to the scribes. It was a cursive, “soft,” or layyin script, produced with a blunt pen tip. Just possibly another version existed for very special uses—a hard, “dry,” or yabis script, which would have been written with a chisel-edged pen on prepared animal skin (parchment or vellum). Evidence from petroglyph inscriptions suggests that this script, too, was known in the earliest Islamic period. The script would soon be used for copying the Koran, though the date is uncertain. The Andalusian Koranic scholar Abu Amr ad-Dani (died. 1052 A.D) describes seeing many early Korans, but he does not mention the script or page materials, only the spelling and contents.
Europe
Uncial (4-8 centuries)
Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. From the 8th century to the 13th century the script was more often used as a display script in headings and titles. Early uncial script most likely developed from late Old Roman cursive. Early forms are characterized by broad single stroke letters using simple round forms taking advantage of the new parchment and vellum surfaces, as opposed to the angular, multiple stroke letters which are more suited for rougher surfaces, such as papyrus. In the oldest examples of uncial, such as the De bellis macedonicis manuscript in the British Library, all of the letters are disconnected from one another, and word separation is typically not used. Word separation, however, is characteristic of later uncial usage. As the script evolved over the centuries, the characters became more complex. Specifically, around AD 600, flourishes and exaggerations of the basic strokes began to appear in more manuscripts. Ascenders and descenders were the first major alterations, followed by twists of the tool in the basic stroke and overlapping. By the time the more compact minuscule scripts arose circa AD 800, some of the evolved uncial styles formed the basis for these simplified, smaller scripts. Uncial was still used, particularly for copies of the Bible, tapering off until around the 10th century. There are over 500 surviving copies of uncial script, by far the largest number prior to the Carolingian Renaissance.
There is some doubt about the exact meaning of the word. Uncial itself probably comes from St. Jerome's preface to the Book of Job, where it is found in the form uncialibus, but it is possible that this is a misreading of inicialibus, and Jerome may have been referring to the larger initial letters found at the beginning of paragraphs.
The term uncial in the sense of describing this script was first used by Jean Mabillon in the early 18th century. Thereafter his definition was refined by Scipione Maffei, who used to refer to this script as distinct from Roman square capitals.
Half-uncial (6-9 centuries)
The term half-uncial or semi-uncial was first used in the mid-18th century by René Prosper Tassin and Charles François Toustain, and despite its common use and understanding, it is not a very accurate name - it is not really derived from regular uncial, but it does look similar and shares many of its features; sometimes, especially when both were developing, the two scripts were used simultaneously in a mixed-uncial script.
Like uncial, half-uncial derived from Roman cursive. It was first used around the 3rd century and remained in use until the end of the 8th century. The early forms of half-uncial were used for pagan authors and Roman legal writing, while in the 6th century the script came to be used in Africa and Europe (but not as often in insular centres) to transcribe Christian texts.
Half-uncial was brought to Ireland in the 5th century, and was then carried to England. There, it was used up to the 8th century, and developed into the insular script after the 8th century.
Merovingian and Visigothic script (8-9 centuries)
Merovingian and Visigothic script was a medieval script so called because it was developed in France during the Merovingian dynasty. It was used in the 7th and 8th centuries before the Carolingian dynasty and the development of Carolingian minuscule.
There were four major centres of Merovingian script: the monasteries of Luxeuil, Laon, Corbie, and Chelles. Each script developed from uncial, half-uncial, and the Merovingian charter scripts. There was also a Merovingian cursive script, used in charters and non-religious writings. All of these types were later influenced by Carolingian script, which eventually replaced it entirely. Along with resemblances to Carolingian and Visigothic, Merovingian shares some features with Beneventan script.
Old Italic script (9-13 centuries)
Old Italic script - script, also known as chancery cursive, is a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It is one of the most popular styles used in contemporary Western calligraphy, and is often one of the first scripts learned by beginning calligraphers. Italic script is based largely on Humanist minuscule, which itself draws on Carolingian minuscule. The letters are the same as the Humanist capitals, modelled on Roman square capitals. The Italian scholar Niccolo Niccoli was dissatisfied with the lowercase forms of Humanist minuscule, however, finding it too slow to write. In response, he created the Italic script, which incorporates features and techniques characteristic of a quickly-written hand: oblique forms, fewer strokes per character, and the joining of letters. Perhaps the most significant change to any single character was to the form of the a, which he simplified from the two-story form to the one-story form now common in most handwriting styles.
Old Italic script under the influence of Italic movable type used with printing presses, moved towards disjoined, more mannered characters. By the 1550s the Italic script had become so laborious that it fell out of use with scribes.
The style became increasingly influenced by the development of Copperplate writing styles in the eighteenth century. The style Italic script used today is often heavily influenced by developments made as late as the early 20th century. In the past few decades, the italic script has been promoted in English-speaking countries as an easier-to-learn alternative to traditional styles of cursive handwriting. In the UK this revival was due in part to Alfred Fairbank's book A Handwriting Manual (1932).
Gothic script/Black Letter (11-15 centuries)
Black Letter, also known as Gothic script, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to 1500. It continued to be used for the German language until the twentieth century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes the entire group of faces is known as Fraktur. Black Letter is not to be confused with Old English, despite the popular though untrue belief that it was written with Black Letter. Old English pre-dates Black Letter by many centuries.