Margaret Shepherd's new book: Learn American Calligraphy

     I'm happy to announce the publication of my new book Learn American Calligraphy, The Complete Book of Lettering, History, and Design, from Skyhorse. Fifteen years in the making, it fills a much needed function to showcase the letters that came to America and evolved, or those who were created here. 

The book takes the casual reader on a visual trip around the United States of the past and future, while calligraphers at all levels of skill will come home with new alphabets to use. 

    For centuries, American calligraphers have accepted the legacy of the classic Roman, Gothic, and Italic calligraphy they inherited from Europe without knowing that there are more alphabet treasures to be found in a larger pool of uniquely American alphabet designs. Wild West, New Deal, Prairie, National Park—all were made in America, and they express ideas that reveal national character. These styles come from here and nowhere else. Much like American music, language, fashion, and philosophy, calligraphy has matured, moved on from its origins, and become, in the words of the man who created Spencerian handwriting, “even more American.” 

Every calligrapher will find inspiration in this book's hundreds of illustrations and dozens of model alphabets. We will be sampling from its hundreds of illustrations and dozens of model alphabets over the year. 

Learn American Calligraphy is available wherever books are sold. 

American Calligraphy #4: Put your John Hancock here

ABCs of the USA: The stories behind America's most distinctive calligraphy styles.  

Every American schoolchild learns the story of John Hancock, the fearless revolutionary who signed the Declaration of Independence with its biggest signature. Tradition has him quipping that “King George will be able to read that without his glasses!” A “John Hancock” quickly became a slang term for any signature. 

A paraph is a swash ↑ that emphasizes a
signature but also helps make it hard to forge. 

This post anticipates John Hancock’s birthday, on Saturday, January 23, which has been named National Handwriting Day. It's a good time to remember the virtues of this country in addition to what we can do to improve it.   

Even back in 1776, literate people had a wide range of handwriting styles. Today, that range has stretched. For comparison, here is the signature of Jacob J Lew, US Secretary of the Treasury. (By 2013, humorous criticism had persuaded him to upgrade it from loopy to legible.)