Book Review: A Celtic Alphabet by Andrew Whitson© Sandra Linville
Jul 31, 2001
A Celtic Alphabet
From the Book of Kells and Other Sources
by Andrew Whitson
Appletree Press, 1997
Cloth, May 2001
ISBN: 0862816645
This small, elegant book showcases decorative lettering, one of the wonders of Celtic art. In A Celtic Alphabet, Irish artist Andrew Whitson has reproduced the capitals of the Celtic alphabet with fine flourish, drawing from original sources, such as the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow.
Andrew Whitson has a special interest in Celtic culture and mythology and also illustrated A Field Guide to Irish Fairies. For those who want to try the Celtic calligraphy, he has also drawn the letters in modern Celtic style, both upper and lower case, providing a practical as well as beautiful guide.
History of Celtic Calligraphy
Between the late 7th and early 9th centuries, Irish monks produced illuminated manuscripts, documenting and saving exquisite art. Vellum, or calf-skin, was the main material for these manuscripts. The Book of Kells may have taken vellum from a herd of up to 150 calves. The vegetable-based ink was made from oak-galls, and the Irish monks used particularly durable black ink.
As fascinating as the history is, the intricate drawings of each letter of the alphabet are the real stars of the book. Each letter is worth more than a few moments of study as one ponders the singular form as well as the detail and color.
Latin's Influence on Celtic Writing
The book’s introduction, written by Dr. A.J. Hughes, a lecturer in Celtic Language and Literature at The Queen’s University, Belfast, is full of the history of this elaborate and inventive form. In the chapter about tools of the trade, Hughes says that Clive Thomas, author of Celtic Britain “described the act of writing in Europe as essentially a Latin-based craft, and it is hardly surprising that both the Irish word peann and the English word pen both go back to Latin penna which means ‘feather, or quill.’”
He further writes: “The main writing tool was a goose-quill, or a crow-quill for fine work. It is clear that the Irish-speaking scribes, who produced manuscripts both in Latin and in Irish were also heavily influenced by Latin in their choice of other words associated with writing, such as: leabhar ‘a book’, litir ‘a letter’, line ‘a line’, scriobh ‘to write’ etc., all borrowed from Latin penna, liber, littera, linea and scribere.”
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