As I was walking through the library I came across a book entitled, The Elements of Typographic Style. Having just watched a documentary related to calligraphy, I decided to stop to take a look at it. Flipping through the first couple pages of the book it showed a variety of print styles such as renaissance, baroque, neoclassical, romantic,realist…etc. (Bringhurst 12-15). What was neat about it, however, was that rather than just presenting the text styles, the book also pointed out the differences in the angles and edges of the letters (in red) from one style to the next. Had the book not done this, it definitely would have been tough for me to see the small differences between some of the styles.

Intrigued by this, I decided to flip a few pages further through the book. By doing so I found the quote, “well-chosen words deserve well-chosen letters; these in their turn deserve to be set with affection, intelligence, knowledge, and skill” (Bringhurst 18). Although this quote is referring to typography it also seems very relevant to calligraphy. People now a days do not write (with pen and paper) with any real care at all how things look; for that matter, good handwriting seems to have become a lost skill to our generation. This is an unfortunate occurrence for our society. Seeing how beautifully the calligraphers were able to write with their fountain pens made me jealous. I wish that I had learned how to write with such flow, care, and precision. I wish that my writing could look as official and elegant as those of calligraphers.

The calligrapher in the documentary definitely wrote with this “affection, intelligence, knowledge, and skill” (Bringhurst 18) that Bringhurst was talking about, forming his words with the quality handwriting style that they deserved to be presented with.