NOLAA Library Book Description

Hi All! As you know or maybe you do not know, NOLAA has a wonderful library. And as part of the perks for being a member, these books are at your disposal; all you have to do is ask. If you are interested in a library book please email the guild at neworleanscalligraphy@yahoo.com and the book will be brought to the next meeting. (Please send request at least a week prior to meeting.)

We will occasionally highlight different books from the library. So here goes. . .

Artist & Alphabet

curated by Jerry Kelly & Alice Koeth

Introduction by Donald Jackson

Over the past quarter century, calligraphy and the lettering arts have enjoyed a renaissance all across America. Here is a selection presenting a century of scribes, representing 140 examples of their best work, and displaying the taste, variety and vitality of the lettering arts in this country over the past century. The greats are all here, from Arnold Bank, John Howard Benson, and W. A. Dwiggins to Alexander Zanetti and Hermann Zapf (whose influence is so pervasive and whose American contacts so legion that it would have been criminal to omit him). In between are stunning examples, with 96 specimens illustrated in full color and 47 in black and white, of the very best this country has produced. Complete with 72 pages of color, this landmark book provides the widest possible overview of the lettering arts of this century, a rewarding display of American talent and artistry reproduced to the highest standards.

While this is not a how-to book, it will offer inspiration to both amateur and professional calligraphers. Assembled by the American Institute of Graphic Arts on the 25th anniversary of the Society of Scribes, it celebrates 20th-century calligraphy. American calligraphers were invited to submit works that met the following criteria: they had to be produced between 1900 and 1999, employ the Latin alphabet, and employ mainly calligraphy and lettering, not type design. The result is a collection of 122 examples from 74 contemporary and 28 historical calligraphers that reveal the formal and playful use of calligraphy for book jackets, posters, advertising, and various illuminations and inscriptions; they may be gilded slate, silkscreen reproductions, offset-printed, etched on crystal, or carved in alabaster. Each entry notes artist, location, date, title, and medium, and brief biographies are included at the end of the book. For larger general arts and all graphic arts collections.
-Judith Yankielun Lind, Roseland Free P.L., NJ