Arrighis
Operina
Home
page La
Operina is a slim volume of 32 pages. It
teaches italic handwriting and is still essential
reading.
Copyright
© 2002 Gunnlaugur SE Briem. All rights
reserved.
HANDWRITING
Operina
Quill
Model
Your
pen
Method
The
book
Each page was printed from a
separate woodcut by Ugo da Carpi, who is best known
as a master of chiaroscuro engraving.
The book is dated 1522, but
probably published in 1524, as AS Osley suggests in
Scribes and Sources (Faber and Faber, London
1980.)
The author was a copyist, papal scribe, publisher and type
designer. He called himself Ludovico Vicentino, and wrote
the name eight times into his short text. Yet we know him as
Arrighi, a name that appears nowhere in the book.
La Operina shows great handwriting
on every page. It is more than a set of model sheets,
however. It describes Arrighis underlying forms and
two basic entry movements. It covers the spacing of lines,
words and letters. It deals with slant and joins.
E-mail:
briem@ismennt.is. Updated
01 April 2002.