CALLIGRAPHY
When we are delving back into the depths of history, it is all too tempting to assume that we can find everything we need to know in merely understanding the text.
When we look a little closer however, it becomes clear that there is plenty to uncover not only in the words themselves, but in the hand and lettering that they are written in. The art of calligraphy is based on the mastery of these letters, often known in manuscript studies as “hands”, and learning to identify and understand the hands you are examining tells you a great deal about where the item was made, who made it, and for what potential purpose.