Wheathampstead is a small village in Hertfordshire, north of London. Its Gothic church is rather unremarkable, but it seems to have more interesting calligraphy than the great abbey of St. Albans, which is only five miles away. The calligraphy seen in this church is a cross-section through the ages. Not all of it is well exhibited: I had to roll up a carpet to see the inscription dated from the eleventh year of the reign of king Henry VIII.
I like especially the epitaph of Alice Bailey. To our modern eyes it may look like ordinary printed typeface, but actually it is a fine piece of calligraphy. Although written in the classical capitalis elegans, the repetition of the definitely unclassical "y" gives the whole inscription a specific rhythm.
I like especially the epitaph of Alice Bailey. To our modern eyes it may look like ordinary printed typeface, but actually it is a fine piece of calligraphy. Although written in the classical capitalis elegans, the repetition of the definitely unclassical "y" gives the whole inscription a specific rhythm.
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