The First Writing Book: An English Translation & Facsimile Text of Arrighi's Operina, the First Manual of the Chancery Hand. With Introduction and Notes by John Howard Benson

8vo (22 cm), xv, 48 pp. Publisher's cloth and dust jacket (dust jacket clipped and slightly stained, endpapers somewhat stained). The first English translation and facsimile edition of Ludovico degli Arrighi's celebrated La Operina da imparare di scrivere littera cancellarescha, first published at Rome in 1522 and universally regarded as the earliest and most influential printed manual of the Italian chancery cursive (cancellaresca corsiva), the elegant script developed in the papal chancery and the direct ancestor of modern italic handwriting. Arrighi, known as Vicentino after his birthplace of Vicenza, was not only one of the supreme writing masters of the Italian Renaissance but also a distinguished type designer and collaborator in the development of early italic printing types. His Operina transformed the practice of handwriting instruction by presenting the chancery hand through clear woodcut models and concise practical instruction. The 32 woodcut pages of the original are here reproduced in complete facsimile, by photo-offset from a copy of the first edition. John Howard Benson's edition provides the first English translation of Arrighi's text, itself written out in a hand based closely upon the original model, combining scholarly accuracy with practical calligraphic understanding. Benson's extensive introduction places the chancery hand within the broader history of Western writing and examines Arrighi's methods in detail, including pen preparation, cutting of the nib, posture, movement, proportion, and the relationship between manuscript practice and printed letterforms. His notes relate Arrighi's principles to modern calligraphic practice and explain the continuing importance of the Operina as a foundation text for italic handwriting. A landmark contribution to the study and revival of Renaissance calligraphy, preserving in accessible form one of the supreme monuments of Italian writing instruction and one of the essential sources for the history of the italic hand.…