Carouine & Earty Gormc Scriprs Foundational Hand N BOOK ON THE mechanics of calligraphy is complete without a reference to Edward Johnston’s Foundational Hand and its simplicity and integrity, Historically, it belongs to the carly 20th century. However, the basis for the script is a manuscript dating from the year 966, the Ramsey Psalter, Foosriony» Believed to have been produced by scribes at Winchester, “sythé wah ait the Ramsey Psalter was written in a hand now known as, Foundonl che lg the English Caroline Minuscule, an Anglicized version eee of Frankish Caroline Minuscule (pp. 38-39) iedvena soaks By THe END oF the 19th century, under the influence of the Arts and 1 re Crafts movement in England, a whole ea dne die ito: new plilotohy'waafemenging among fine peccaco nofcuftodire: . artists and craftsmen, The basis of i this philosophy was that the honest © tferere nr Gacaniecnre ty construction of an artefact was F ue mufericordia aia dre - achieved only by the correct interaction of too and materia fap nof-quemadmodum Medical student Edward Johnston readily endorsed this idea and began, fperaumuf une - r in 1897, to experiment in writing 1 ne dne fj nit fa e P era iconpun, letters with a broad-edged pen. In 1899, his work came to the attention dar ina&ermum- of W.R. Lethaby, Principal of the fi ES Central School of Arts and Crafts in ANUS “Rua fuERo Rui. London, who invited him to teach classes in Calligraphy and Illumination 7 In 1901, Johnston also began lecturing p at the Royal College of Art, London. B change di driosb oaks dnd : B en aquae omf quae frp cof Ss func dro: omfurrcucefdmdrio-» B mfoletluna dno ~ & The Cartine Minune ofthe Ramey Per benedicree ftelLac cel dno: 5 ‘on which Johnston's te Hing ond B Momip; imber&rofdrio - ted, “it has all dhe and saesactory penmacship which Ihave seen 2Founparionat. HAND abbedefghijkUmnopqé rstu UVWXY 2800565678 “Sante pen fete Johnston was encou by Sidney Cocke secretary to William Morris, who ntroduced him to the Ramsey Psalter It was then that he wrote toa friend: “And so the idea came — to make 1g letters with a formal pen’ In his great instructional work Writing and the former Illuminating and Lettering, published in 1906, for “slanted” pen letters, such as those in the Ra the Half Uncial letters written with a “straight” pen (pp. 38-39). Drawn with a broad-edged pen held at 30°, plained his preference sey Psalter, over Foundational Hand as cand t0 develop into mified th ‘ Ethace seribimus fesse.'gem ss Vvobisutgaudeatis iS he “slanted” letters had the greater & guidiinestrum sora nee sit Fplenum. they produced was ofan even weight “Sharp-headed” serif The most marked difference between Johnston’s letters and those of the Caroline Minuscule isthe serifon ascenders, Regarding the “pushed” ‘Cc haveescammunciacio audivinusabaytanumneia whis: Quonian Deus luncest. Srnebmae in conon suncullac, aben‘l pen strokes used for “lumped? serifs as forced, Johnston advocated the use of “sharp-headed” serifS made from “pulled” pen strokesCanouine & Eanty Gornic Scripts Foundational Hand Apozsnronntis calligraphy as the letterforms is the ‘manner in which the words are laid out on the page anel the textural effect that they achieve. With its regularity of ductus, in which arches, curves, widths of letters, and internal spaces all relate, the Foundational Hand demonstrates a perfect evenness of texture (sce Inter-letter spacing, below). The pen angle isabout 30°, increasing to about 45° for diagonal strokes. Minim height is four or five nib widths, with a further three for ascenders and descenders. ‘The key leter weft explore the construction As this composite character of a, d, of Foundational letters by drawing tuand q shows, the os the key leer chem with two pencil ped fofthe hand. Take time and care t© together, The peneil points relate Compose its wo curved strokes is w the comers of a pen nib. Internal spaces ‘The elegant oval cof pace within the Teter o provides the rodel to which all other spaces in the hae shoul ideally conform, Inter-letter spacing. “The spaces berween leters should be 35 3s posible, Many srbes train their eyes to stad inter-leter spacing 35 keenly a6 the lecerforms themselves. LOULIC t és ‘Y alway ad tom of the te ewer Al nee (Cys reg ho ay Te dew he els 5 ofthe ad, 0 fewer’ hel hy ij 4Founparionat Hab = 7 4 Toamw esos la n erie ' Le et ! Pu the ele of the nit downuds tothe ef (1) Make an inward cue 1 $ Reve he op ™ 3 ant pal pon fms eae thet 8) ‘sin the main stem 2) m ‘To da the en ofthe 1, ee keer To draw the serif ofthe, seeker “To complete the eter, pal the 4 1, MM, | “om ‘1 co “4 seri ofthe p, 2NGl> + Thesith ake of ‘ae - “za & Cp L ese wk, = serif ofthe, Ny i _ . t Dl the sod srobe of thet along the baline it + gem a Todiaw the mane ™ se eer acc -_2 # a) 2 ¢ 2% % C “Tum te ew eo the Festal Irae the second tobe other @MNYRXE < ‘This aliematveg may prove ie for beginners poe thar the radian ome Alternative ¢ 4 45