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Carolingian with Marcy Robinson

The Carolingian minuscule (8th to 12th century) is considered to be the first fully developed minuscule (lower case) alphabet with legible, uniform, round, bouncy, branching shapes accompanied by capitals, word spacing, and punctuation. The minuscule was the precursor to other cursive alphabets: Italic, Foundational, Roman book hands, Blackletter, and modern typefaces which evolved in later centuries.

Emperor Charlemagne, although not completely literate, realized the need for literacy through a better form of handwriting to unify the ecclesiastical books for a cleaner means of communication in order to spread Christianity throughout his empire. Under the tutelage of Alcuin of York, an advisor to Charlemagne, this objective was achieved through the standardization of existing scripts. Simple Roman Capitals, Uncials, and Half Uncials work well with this script.

The alphabet to be taught is the Carolingian minuscule adapted by Sheila Waters for her manuscript Under Milk Wood, commissioned by Edward Hornby and completed in 1978. For further historical study of this beautiful script, please read Foundations of Calligraphy by Sheila Waters and Historical Scripts by Stan Knight.

Date: Saturday, October 12, 2019
Time: 10:00 am—4:00 pm
Price: $80 members/$100 non-members
Level: Beginner and all levels
Location: SVA Annex, 214 E. 21st Street (between 2nd/3rd Ave), Room 703A

 
 
 
 

MATERIALS LIST

  • Borden & Riley Paper or Gilbert Bond Paper - 11” by 14”

  • Mitchell broad Edge Nibs - sizes 0, 1, 1.5 or equivalent in Speedball or Brause with reservoir and Pen Holder. You may also bring smaller sizes 2 and 2.5

  • Higgins Eternal non-water proof ink or equivalent like Yasutomo Black Sumi ink

  • Ruler

  • Eraser

  • Pencil

  • Notebook

Calligraphy mail order suppliers have everything and are reliable and fast: Paper & Ink Arts or John Neal Books. Basic supplies can be found locally at Dick Blick and Da Vinci.

INSTRUCTOR

Marcy Robinson is an award winning lettering artist residing in New Jersey. She has studied with Julian and Sheila Waters and has taken workshops with many other lettering and design artists. She was one of 12 professional artists featured in the “Alphabet”, Spring 2011 issue - The Journal of The Friends of Calligraphy. She also designed the “Alphabet” logo. She participated in “Conversations in Calligraphies” exhibitions in 2017 and 2018. Her work may be seen in “100 New York Calligraphers”/Cynthia Dantzic; “Manuale Calligraphicum”/Jerry Kelly; and “Morphing Monograms”/Barry Morentz and Marcia Friedman.