Entering the curve: an introduction to five hundred years of cursive writing 1150–1650
with
Ewan Clayton
Though the personal cursive of Niccolò Niccoli, the inventor of ‘italic’, marks a distinctive change of tempo and rhythm in European writing, the context for this development had been several centuries in gestation. In this workshop we trace the thread of interest in cursive scripts from the mid-twelfth century that will eventually transform itself into italic cursive writing and then into the English Round Hand of the seventeenth century. All our studies are made from primary documents and will involve an introduction to writing with the quill pen, though the use of such a pen in class is optional (most people will probably stick to metal nibs, but you will be free to experiment).
About Ewan Clayton
Ewan is a calligrapher and part-time Professor in Design at The University of Sunderland where he co directs the International Calligraphy Research Centre. He grew up associated with a community of craftsmen at Ditchling in Sussex founded by Eric Gill. Ewan has enjoyed a varied professional career working as both a calligraphy teacher and a consultant to Xerox PARC, and he is currently a core faculty member at the Royal Drawing School in London. In 2013 he was awarded the first Karl-Georg Hoefer prize by The Schreibwerkstatt Klingspor for his work in calligraphy and education. His book on the history of calligraphy and typography The Golden Thread is out in paperback in the USA and has been released in Spanish and Italian translations.