Ranging from the Middle Ages, when beautiful calligraphy was a way of celebrating the divine, to the renaissance of the art form by William Morris, to the modern school of calligraphers following in the wake of master typographer Edward Johnston, Patricia Lovett charts the development of calligraphy through the history of European manuscripts. A renowned expert on the history of the form as well as a fine calligrapher herself, she writes--uniquely--from a practitioner's point of view. Large-scale full-color reproductions enable the reader to see the fine detail of each manuscript, and to understand more clearly than ever before the painstaking craft and great artistic skill that were necessary to create these strikingly beautiful pieces of writing.