Calligraphy
Defintion
Calligraphy originates from the greek words "kallos," meaning beauty and "graphein" meaning to write, thus calligraphy means beautiful handwriting. [1] In other words, calligraphy is a form of decorative and artistic writing that has some type of design or form that goes beyond what is written. In fact it can even be said that calligraphy is a form of drawing or painting in which the emotions in that very moment are captured in their entirety. [2] Therefore, calligraphy is a form of art. More specially, since calligraphy has a variety of forms and "considers individual structure, and aspires to bring pleasure to the eye, it is just like painting and the other arts."[3]
Elements
Calligraphy can be presented in various forms, styles and types which depend on both the writers themselves and the genre and/or topic the writer is focusing on. However, regardless of these differences there are some qualities that all calligraphy must have. This includes clear, legible words and letters which allow what is written to be read and received by others. However, calligraphy goes beyond simple legibility to the more artistic elements, much like Ancient Rome did, such as structure or ink which makes the writing unique. The purpose of such artistic elements can be seen as a means to make the handwriting both harmonious and beautiful so that readers can be further enticed to read what is written.
History
Though some make the argument that calligraphy has existed since the beginning of humankind, in which ancient humans would scrape symbols onto rock in order to communicate with others, the origins of calligraphy are actually much later in time. [1] Calligraphy originates in Ancient Egypt. More specially, with the creation of hieroglyphics or the first writing system, calligraphy was created. [4] Calligraphy is then later seen in Ancient Rome through the Roman square capitals. These Roman capitals can be seen as the very foundation of calligraphy in which one would write both elegant and decorative letters.[4] In general, Ancient Rome consisted of the more decorative form of handwriting which included words that were painted on walls, carved on stone or written in cursive. In other words, calligraphy in Ancient Rome didn't just focus on the words themselves but the artistic and decorative presentation of these words.[1]
While originating in Ancient Egypt, calligraphy changed and evolved with each passing period of time. For instance, during the Middle Ages gothic script was heavily used. This form of writing was characterized by more thick, bold, and compressed lettering, with unlike the Humanist Minuscule font which was created in the Renaissance Period, shifter away from such boldness and was a much more lighter and simple font. Other types of calligraphy that were created around this time were Copperplate Script, Spencerian Script, and more. [5]
These various creations of scripts have all lead to the current period of calligraphy known as the modern era. Today, calligraphy is a combination of the more traditional scripts and digital techniques. With the continuous evolvement of technology, calligraphy now has endless fonts and forms to choose from that are all digitized and easy to access.
Role in Publishing Industry
Calligraphy or decorative handwriting has a major impact on the publishing industry. Especially with the continuing development of technology, calligraphy plays an important role in the publishing industry. This doesn't just refer to the various fonts and designs that can be used inside the book, but the actual title and cover of the novel too. Calligraphy allows a wide range of fonts, designs, and layouts for the title and cover of a novel that can best fit the story and draw readers to the book. As a result, calligraphy plays an important role in drawing readers attention to the actual book and is thus part of the publishing process. Without the creation of calligraphy not only would the various fonts that are usually used for books wouldn't exist, but there would be a major limit of creativity in the creation of a book. That is, calligraphy is a form of creativity in which one can really apply a unique and specialized font or design that best fits with their story. Without this however, this form of creativity is completed limited and thus detrimental to both the publishing industry as a whole and the publishing process itself.
Reference
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The History of Calligraphy." Cult Pens, https://cultpens.com/pages/the-history-of-calligraphy
- ↑ “History of Lettering.” Calligraphers Guild, https://www.calligraphersguild.org/history-of-lettering. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
- ↑ Kakuzō, Okakura, and Timothy Unverzagt Goddard. “Reading ‘Calligraphy Is Not Art’ (1882).” Review of Japanese Culture and Society, vol. 24, 2012, pp. 168–75. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/42801047?searchText=%22calligraphy%22&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2522calligraphy%2522%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fspellcheck_phrase_search%2Ftest&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3ce9bd310a2a645f7d1a72c23477206a&seq=5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "That Art of Calligraphy." https://webpages.charlotte.edu/bxiang1/itis3135/project/history.html. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
- ↑ "History of Calligraphy- A Complete Timeline Overview." https://www.lettering-daily.com/calligraphy-history/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
