Type, lettering and calligraphy, part one: 1450-1830

The development of the major formal and informal book hands, the dominant printing types of each period, and their interrelationship.

Topics include: the Gothic hands; humanistic script; the Renaissance inscriptional capital; Garamond and the spread of the Aldine Roman; calligraphy from the chancery italic to the English round hand; the neo-classical book and its typography; and early commercial typography. The course presupposes a general knowledge of Western history and some awareness of the continuity of the Latin script but no special knowledge of typographical history.

This course, which is taught in French, is also offered by the Rare Book School.