Italic ligatures

[caliken]

Although there are several good italic instruction books currently available, there are many diverse opinions regarding the use of ligatures in italic writing.

 

From as far back as Arrighi, calligraphers have given instructions as to the rules of joining (ligatures) in Italic and the only consistent factor is their inconsistency!

 

The more you examine the subject, the more confusing it becomes. In writing Italic, some calligraphers are very sparing in their use of ligatures whilst others join up virtually everything. The books which give rules on the matter are not always the same rules! In a recent post, someone said that joins into the letter 'a' are never allowed and, indeed, I have seen that rule in print. And yet....look at the examples below! Even when ligatures are employed, the forms adopted can be quite different.

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Ligaturing260209aa_edited-3.jpg

 

Hermann Zapf said -

"When writing quickly, connections between letters occur automatically. These can be different from one person to the next."

 

Tom Gourdie said -

"Rules are given for ligaturing but should not be regarded as completely binding if handwriting is to be free and natural."

 

Any opinions?

 

 

[vidalia11]

To me, it's optimal to use ligatures that look graceful, as you demonstrated. And sometimes they don't have to be used if you want a certain "look".

 

Karen

[katim]

I prefer the ligatures to join halfway up the following letter and, like Gourdie, I'd rather not be too constrained by the ligature 'rules'. I think it was I who said to Karen that there's no entry serif to a letter 'a', so any preceding letter can't 'join' to it. I was quoting a 'rule', but I see that I don't obey it myself! I find that there are frequent occasions when a preceding letter's exit serif hits the 'a' halfway up and, in effect, joins up the writing.

 

I also prefer all the joins halfway up the succeeding letter on aesthetic grounds - the top joins (e.g. to a letter 'm') are too like those in copperplate, but they don't seem to me to work with an italic nib.

 

My two penn'orth, anyway!

 

BTW, I've been using your italic grid and find it works very well for me in terms of getting angles right - again, many thanks! However, I still find myself making the ligatures at the halfway point and not linking exit and entrance serifs. I shall have to do a lot more practice before I come to any conclusion on which route to pursue.

 

Ken

Edited February 27, 2009 by katim

[wykpenguin]

I just go with whatever comes out of my hand. There are too many things to keep in mind, pen angle, slant, spacing, character forms, that I don't want to bother about adjusting each letter for joining in Italic. I just keep my endings consistent and let them crash into the next letter wherever they wish. I might make some adjustments if I see something better and decide to re-do a piece.

[craynerd]

I think your video Ken, is one of the most interesting I have seen. You clearly use ligatures in those samples you posted on youtube and the way you write, by pulling your down strokes and then flicking up after each down stroke, perfectly forms your ligatures to the next letter. I just think it is a lovely way of italic handwriting. Without ligatures the writing doesn`t seem complete, somehow, to me at least! I think Gourde's hand demonstrates some lovely ligatures.

 

My question would be, regardless of the joining point of the connecting ligatures, should they be there at all? I know we had a discussion that I initiated on this on Karen's post early yesterday.

 

Chris

[caliken]

My question would be, regardless of the joining point of the connecting ligatures, should they be there at all?

Chris

 

Chris :

Most of the 16th century Italic writing masters wrote with only very occasional ligatures and they were of the 'over-linking' type as in the second last example, 'han' above.

A notable exception was Bennardino Cataneo who used no ligatures. His Italic is exquisite and IMO has never been bettered.

 

Ken :

Tom Gourdie was an 'over-linker' and his was the method I studied exclusively. As a result, I too am an 'over-linker'.

It's worth noting that this method is a particularly good way of controlling inter-letter spacing.

 

The most eminent of the 'under-linkers' is Hermann Zapf, so if you decide to stay with that style, you are in good company!

 

I do feel that, for a better overall balance, it's probably best to stick to one style or the other and not mix them in the same piece of writing.

Edited February 27, 2009 by caliken

[Italicist]

Tom Gourdie said -

"Rules are given for ligaturing but should not be regarded as completely binding...

 

This is one of the best puns that I've read for a while; I wonder whether it was intentional or otherwise. Seriously, though, thanks for raising an interesting question, Caliken. Practice does seem to vary widely, even among the experts, so there is precedent for almost anything one wishes to do. A couple of the names that you've mentioned are new to me: I know nothing, for example, of Bennardino Cataneo. Is his unjoined italic a formal calligraphic hand?

 

Cheers,

Italicist

 

[caliken]

Italicist :

"Masters of the Italic Letter" by Kathryn A Atkins shows 22 exemplars from the 16th century.

There are a couple of examples by Bennardino Cataneo dated 1545 and they are beautiful beyond belief at a minuscule height of only 2mm! If you can't get the book, you may be able to track down a library copy.

 

I do know that Stephen Harvard published a book of his work, but I haven't seen a copy.

 

 

Edited February 28, 2009 by caliken

[craynerd]

I tried printing your grid paper out earlier today Ken for practice and I struggled with the spacing, my printer kept changing the size. I have since converted it to pdf, so you can download the pdf and simply press print and it prints full page. The link for the pdf is below, maybe it will be useful to some?

 

http://www.raynerd.co.uk/?p=81

 

ps. feel free to leave a comment, the site is quite new!

Edited February 28, 2009 by craynerd

[caliken]

I tried printing your grid paper out earlier today Ken for practice and I struggled with the spacing, my printer kept changing the size. I have since converted it to pdf, so you can download the pdf and simply press print and it prints full page. The link for the pdf is below, maybe it will be useful to some?

 

http://www.raynerd.co.uk/?p=81

 

ps. feel free to leave a comment, the site is quite new!

 

craynerd:

 

Well done & thanks!

 

Ken

 

[RayMan]

Thank you for your insights Ken. I'm in the very early stages of learning cursive italic. I'm having a difficult time with "e". The style shown by Tom Gourdie slows me down excessively. It just seems so impractical. There must be a better way (at least a way that is better for me). I'm glad to read your comment regarding the existence of different ligature styles.

Edited February 28, 2009 by RayMan

[Ann Finley]

I'm one of those that's consistently inconsistent regarding joins, being one that prefers overlinking or joining half way up . I don't much care for horizontal joins, thus don't often use them. I most especially don't like the looks of joining an "e" from mid-letter--no particular reason, just don't care for the look. When I join an "e" it's always from the exit serif.

 

Best, Ann

[RayMan]

I most especially don't like the looks of joining an "e" from mid-letter--no particular reason, just don't care for the look. When I join an "e" it's always from the exit serif.

 

Best, Ann

 

I agree Ann. I much prefer joining the "e" in that fashion. I prefer the appearance, and my writing is more fluid.

 

[Andes]

I tried printing your grid paper out earlier today Ken for practice and I struggled with the spacing, my printer kept changing the size. I have since converted it to pdf, so you can download the pdf and simply press print and it prints full page. The link for the pdf is below, maybe it will be useful to some?

 

http://www.raynerd.co.uk/?p=81

 

ps. feel free to leave a comment, the site is quite new!

Thank you very much. I will use that format.

[caliken]

Here is a copy of work by Bennardino Cataneo dated 1545. In this astonishing tour-de-force the minuscules are only 2mm high!

From time to time, I have received praise for my lettering and it's very easy to get carried away, and start believing it. Every time I go back and look at this tiny piece of italic writing, I am overwhelmed with wonder, and come straight back down to earth!

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/Cataneoforposting.jpg

 

[Italicist]

Here is a copy of work by Bennardino Cataneo dated 1545...

 

Thanks for the information on Cataneo and this beautiful image of his writing, Caliken. Those tiny, perfectly-formed miniscules are astonishing! If the quality of his writing brings you down to earth, I think that the rest of us must be buried!

[Jamesiv1]

Thanks for posting the Cataneo piece, Ken. I absolutely love his writing.

 

For more of Cataneo's work, see "An Italic Copybook - The Cataneo Manuscript" by Stephen Harvard. I bought mine from John Neal.

 

This book has facsimiles of the entire 20-page manuscript reproduced at actual size. Amazing stuff.

 

It should be noted that this is very much a "formal" italic hand, rather than an cursive, or running hand - i.e. no joins.

 

Gracious, I would love to see some of his every day writing...

 

Best,

 

James

 

hmmm... just searched John Neal, and didn't find it. But there are several used copies available at Amazon, starting at $26.95

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/080...;condition=used

 

Edited February 28, 2009 by Jamesiv1

[caliken]

 

Thanks for the link, James

[caliken]

Thank you for your insights Ken. I'm in the very early stages of learning cursive italic. I'm having a difficult time with "e". The style shown by Tom Gourdie slows me down excessively. It just seems so impractical. There must be a better way (at least a way that is better for me). I'm glad to read your comment regarding the existence of different ligature styles.

RayMan,

 

There are three basic ways of writing the italic minuscule 'e'

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/ABC4.jpg

 

I usually favour style C over A as it maintains the parallel ligatures. B is the fastest to write, but producing a good shape is a little more difficult as the first part of the letter is a pushed stroke. I occasionally use A, but not very often.

 

[Miranda]

Thanks for the pdf of the italic grid, Chris.

 

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