The student will find the alphabet of italics useful for rapid lettering of plans, maps, etc. He should endeavour to preserve the same slope, not getting some letters falling over and others nearly upright. There is no need to give detailed instructions as to how to form the individual letters, as, after having practised the formation of letters in the preceding chapter, he should experience no difficulty in feeling his way with regard to the forming of the individual strokes that go to make up each letter. The same thing applies to the pen-formed figures that are given here. These are all composed of simple pen-strokes, and the student should be able to form these quite easily and quickly.
Constant practice with the reed or quill pen will do more than anything to make him an efficient writer.
CHAPTER VI
ALPHABETS FOR STUDY, BASED ON HISTORICAL EXAMPLES
After the student has, to some extent, mastered the pen, and is able to write fairly easily, it would be a good plan for him to study some of the best historical examples, forming the letters in the same simple manner.
The examples given here are free renderings of the various alphabets used in the different periods. In the case of any of the letters being missing to form the complete alphabet, these have been constructed in a similar style. The reason for doing this is so that the student should experience no difficulty in writing when using any one of these alphabets, as would possibly be the case if an incomplete alphabet were given. These alphabets are merely given for convenience, the object not being in any way to keep the student from studying the original manuscripts for himself. It was thought, however, that it might possibly be helpful if the various letters were given in the form of complete alphabets, as, after studying the various forms of lettering in this manner, the student would be encouraged to study the actual MSS. for himself.
Fig. 11.
One of the most beautiful forms of simple pen-formed lettering is given in [Fig. 11]. The uncial characters shown here (a) afford one of the best examples for practice in writing with the reed or quill. These letters are all formed with simple strokes made with the slanted-cut pen. For the purpose of general writing it may be as well to change the form of one or two of the letters, such as the A, for example, and possibly the D. Forming these characters with a well-cut pen is splendid practice for the student. He should endeavour to form the letters with simple direct strokes, with no touching up afterwards. After having practised the previous exercises well, he should be able to form these letters quite easily. He should, as opportunity occurs, examine carefully some of the fine uncial manuscripts, or at any rate some good reproductions of them.