Origins of Copperplate

Castle in the Air calligraphers are familiar with Copperplate, the script most widely recognized for its use in 18th-century documents as varied as personal correspondence and the Declaration of Independence.

What isn't as well known is how this iconic script was developed. Most histories of calligraphy leap over nearly a century of artistic development leading up to Copperplate's era.

In this evening seminar, calligraphic historian Dave Goggin, founder of the San Francisco Pointed Pen Calligraphy Club, will reveal some of the rich variety and beauty of writing styles and flourishing of the "proto-Copperplate" era, circa 1620-1710. His illustrated lecture will include a number of "lost" variations on Copperplate, Blackletter, Dutch, and Italic, and will also show examples of single-line flourishing and the artistry and precision of "spring'd letters." Methods for rejuvenating these long-lost scripts into present-day practice will also be discussed.

Scheduled to complement master calligrapher Bill Kemp's two-day Copperplate workshop at Castle in the Air--the Bay Area's premier supplier of pointed pen books and supplies--this presentation will be held in the shop's upstairs gallery.

Origins of Copperplate
An Illustrated Presentation by Dave Goggin

Saturday, August 13
6:30 p.m.

Castle in the Air
1805 Fourth Street
Berkeley, Calif. 94710

This event is free and open to the public.
For further information, please call Clint Marsh at (510)204-9801.
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