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Arthur Baker's Copybook of Renaissance Calligraphy: Mercator's Italic Hand
Arthur Baker's Copybook of Renaissance Calligraphy Mercator's Italic Hand Author:Arthur Baker Gerhardus Mercator, who lived 1512 - 1594, was the greatest of the Renaissance geographers, best known for the map projection that bears his name. It is less commonly known that the was also a fine calligrapher-- the Flemish peer of such Italian masters as Arrighi, Palatino, Cresci and Tagliente. Mercator particularly admired the humanistic curs... more »ive style of writing, with its added swashes, for use in lettering the place names and legends on his maps. In 1540, he authored a writing manual devoted to this style-- the Literarum Latinarum. Now Arthur Baker, one of the greatest modern calligraphers, has gone back to both Mercator's manual and his maps, projecting enlargements of the relatively small letterforms in the originals, studying all the details, and creating large-scale letters from Mercator's work. The results are finely honed representations of Mercator's original letters. Baker's interpretations of the Italic style, with its broad strokes, looping extenders, and distinctive elegance, are no mere copybook exercises, however. As befits a master calligrapher who has himself created hundreds of calligraphic alphabets and typefaces, Arthur Baker has brought his own fresh, unusual interpretations to this classic writing style. Admirers of Arthur Baker's previous books for Dover will want to own this latest demonstration of his skill; those new to calligraphy will find here and excellent introduction to a venerable calligraphic tradition, while artists and illustrators will appreciate the fact that the calligraphic designs within are all copyright-free.« less