Italic Handwriting (March 2003)

This is the handwriting of the late Graham Last, a friend who was a senior education official as well as chairman of the Society for Italic Handwriting, to whose executive committee I still belong.  If I recall correctly, he was, in this note, commenting on a Sheaffer fountain pen whose nib I had just sharpened.

Graham’s handwriting was extremely regular; and while his style was not flamboyant or particularly decorative, it was supremely legible and pleasing to the eye.  To me, this feat was all the more impressive, considering he was lefthanded — though I hasten to add that I count many able lefthanded calligraphers among my friends. 

It was always a privilege to receive a letter from him on personal stationery he had printed on his handpress — in this case with his favourite Bembo type.

Christopher Brennan Poem (2010)

This is a commissioned piece I did in mid-March, for somebody who was intending to read this poem while  proposing on bended knee to the girl he wanted to marry. 

A similar piece usually takes me 7 or 8 hours to do, approximately two-thirds of which is spent ruling up the sheet and writing everything lightly in pencil first.  (The actual writing is, in fact, the easy part.)  But fortunately this piece was sent to me already typed and nicely laid out, so, apart from minor tweaks, I did not have to work out line spacing and x-height myself.

An easy job, then, though it came at a time when I thought I couldn’t get any busier!