Writing as handwork: a history of handwriting in Mediterranean and Western culture
Most research on writing has been from the standpoint either of the system (alphabet, language etc) or the reader. Very little has examined the history of writing from the viewpoint of the producer of the handwritten script. .. This book examines Homo sapiens as a writer, without separating different kinds of scripts and documents in a particular era, and focuses on the physical aspects of scripts. There are five dimensions to this wide-ranging study: writing schools, where the art is acquired; the design of manuscripts; the different kinds of scripts used by writers; the postures assumed during writing and the movements it involves; and the personal characteristics of handwriting...