Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy: A Step-by-Step Manual

Impress yourself and your friends with your creativity in Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy! Add a personal touch to cards, invitations, posters, and more with this guide to hand-lettering. Whether you're a graphic artist or just looking for gift ideas, a hobby, or craft creation, mastering copperplate calligraphy allows you to add your own personal touch!

In this practical manual, a noted calligraphy teacher offers a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for the student. Beginning with a brief but fascinating history of copperplate, she moves quickly to an in-depth examination of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation. Each letter is demonstrated stroke by stroke with a clear explanation.

Students will learn the fundamentals of copperplate–its minuscule and capital letters, from basic strokes to elaborate variations. Includes a calligraphic glossary of terms. A detailed discussion of the essential tools, their advantages, and disadvantages: pen (quills, nibs, etc.), ink (dense vs thin, colored, etc.), paper (smoothness, weights), markers, pencils, and more. Learn how to retouch, correct, and crop. Strokes and letters are shown in the correct form. Learn the effects of shape, structure, weight, and spacing of copperplate letters. How copperplate can be used to write a simple paragraph, a short quotation, or poetry, and how to use the script commercially for addressing envelopes and writing name cards and invitations. Contemporary examples are provided of commercial and fine art calligraphy. This book is perfect, whether you are an expert or just a beginner.
Developed by English handwriting masters in the 18th century, copperplate calligraphy is admired for its fluidity and beauty. It is the most popular style for social correspondence, invitations, and other communications requiring an elegant hand. With this easy-to-follow manual and some practice, calligraphers will be able to create copperplate scripts with the rhythm, grace, and ease of the great writing masters.

Dover publishes a collection of books dedicated to the fine art of lettering, calligraphy, and typography, from basic ornamental letters to "how-to" and history books.