The Album of Historical Vyaz Letters
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, reference is a source of information (such as a book or passage) to which a reader or consulter is referred. On top of that, reference may be a drawing or photograph that the artist or designer studies before work to more accurately convey details or obtain additional information or ideas.
On the Internet, there’s a lot of information and reference material on calligraphy and lettering topics nowadays. But everything was completely different when I started my creative path and started learning Slavic Vyaz calligraphy in 2015. Mostly, I encountered the same reference pictures on the Internet. Soon on social networks, a wave of old digitized book publications appeared:
· Shepkin V. N. “Vyaz” // Antiques. Works of the Imperial Moscow Archaeological Society. T. 20. [Issue 1] 1904.
· Saharov I.P. “Samples of Ancient Writings”. SPb., 1891
· Shepkin, V. N. Handbook of Russian Paleography. M., 1918.
However, these books did not cover all my artistic and design needs. That was why these articles appeared and why I wrote my book. This album was one of the first attempts to collect as many as possible letterforms in one place.
The Album of Historical Vyaz Letters
Despite its impressive volume, the collection has a significant drawback that it’s impossible to correct. Unfortunately, the letters have lost their connection with the archival source from which they were taken. Thus, it is now impossible to determine their date and place of origin.
This collection of letters is helpful for calligraphers, letterers, and font designers, but only if they are not involved in the historical analysis of letters.
The album of letters is compiled into a simple PDF file, which can be printed on A4 sheets:
