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		calligraphy

		Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. There are many forms of calligraphy, from the straight forward text to the highly illuminated, whilst some written languages, such as chinese, are a style of calligraphy in themselves. This art form, for it is an art, has examples dating back many hundreds of years, but it flourished in the fifiteenth to seventeenth centuries. Although it continued to be practised and developed until the Victorian age, which produced some highly elaborate and complex examples, the renaissance of pure calligraphy came in about 1906 with the publication of Edward Johnston's "Writing and Illuminating and Lettering". This led to a widespread renewal in the interest in 'beautiful writing' and the formation of many related groups and societies. This renewed interest was so widespread that in the 1970's calligraphy was the second favourite British pastime after fishing. Although not so widely practised in the twenty-first century, there are still many evening-classes and courses that anyone interested can join. Some people have a natural talent and classes allow them to develop this in the correct way. The upper photograph shown here is of an unilluminated piece done by an inmate of Dartmoor prison, proficient in the art of calligraphy. The lower one is a circular example written by a member of the museum's committee, which demonstrates that anyone can produce a passable piece of work that could be used on greetings cards, for example. Among the students and followers of Edward Johnston were such scribes as Dorothy Malone, Graily Hewitt and Alfred Fairbanks. The museum has examples of calligraphy with items from the collection of Alfred Fairbanks, including a quantity of quills that he cut and used. One of the finest illuminators of this renaissance was Marie Angel, whose work, together with that of the other professional scribes, can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which possesses one of the finest collections of calligraphy in the United Kingdom.
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