From the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, writing masters produced calligraphy books to model different hands for students and to advertise their own skills. The Newberry holds the best collection of Italian writing books in North America, making it an essential archive for their study. Manuscript writing books, and their printed counterparts, reflected evolving societal needs: with changes in political, ecclesiastical, and commercial spheres there arose a new bureaucracy with a demand for secretaries who could produce documents in specific hands for various purposes and audiences. While the books shown here were all produced by men, women also had successful careers as writing mistresses and many writing manuals were specifically intended for the use of men and women (for example, Jean de Beau-Chesne’s manuscript, available below, was created as a model for James I’s daughter Elizabeth). While printed writing books began appearing in the early sixteenth century, manuscript books remained prevalent. Far from making manuscripts obsolete, the printing press heightened the status of writing masters and mistresses who could produce hands – particularly cursive hands – not easily replicated by wood blocks; in fact, many writing masters later forged second careers as engravers.

In addition to showcasing different styles of script, calligraphic books were often highly decorated with flourishes, putti, animals, and human figures; these designs served as models not just for aspiring penmen, but for artists, engravers, and craftsmen as well. Thus, calligraphic books are valuable sources of evidence about how certain hands were used and to whom they were taught, as well as how calligraphy both influenced and was influenced by changing artistic and typographical designs.

- Jill Gage