I bought this book as a beginner, amateur calligrapher (people would say I am approaching intermediate now, but still a relative beginner). This is an excellent book on hand lettering and calligraphy! I would highly recommend it for amateurs and beginners.

Pros:
-tons of example projects and fonts for one to learn and play with
-Space to practice in the book, right beside the example of the technique (more of a beginner thing)
-multiple pictures on every page (not always of the same thing, but a very visual book)
-a variety of fonts to learn, in all three styles, picked from the classics, fundamental fonts, often believed to be easier and/or more necessary for calligraphers to build on
-Discusses the technical aspects of calligraphy in a very understandable way: if you master the vocabulary in this book, you should be able to converse with any calligrapher about either the foundational skills (which are those presented in the book) or comment on a piece

Cons:
-The layout is very aesthetic and friendly, but that comes at a cost of efficiency: this guide will get you started - and well - but cannot take you to higher levels. There just isn’t room for more advanced content.
-There were the odd spaces where I felt information was missing, e.g. the book says to make every second line thicker in the MNW triad for Aesthetics and readability, but most guides will explain that the “second” “line” is a coincidence: the guideline is thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes. This is not as important for beginners, but is important for higher levels and reflects the mechanics on your nib (you don’t want to break it!)

Still far more good than bad. It’s just limited to beginners. ( )

I bought this book as a beginner, amateur calligrapher (people would say I am approaching intermediate now, but still a relative beginner). This is an excellent book on hand lettering and calligraphy! I would highly recommend it for amateurs and beginners.

Pros:
-tons of example projects and fonts for one to learn and play with
-Space to practice in the book, right beside the example of the technique (more of a beginner thing)
-multiple pictures on every page (not always of the same thing, but a very visual book)
-a variety of fonts to learn, in all three styles, picked from the classics, fundamental fonts, often believed to be easier and/or more necessary for calligraphers to build on
-Discusses the technical aspects of calligraphy in a very understandable way: if you master the vocabulary in this book, you should be able to converse with any calligrapher about either the foundational skills (which are those presented in the book) or comment on a piece

Cons:
-The layout is very aesthetic and friendly, but that comes at a cost of efficiency: this guide will get you started - and well - but cannot take you to higher levels. There just isn’t room for more advanced content.
-There were the odd spaces where I felt information was missing, e.g. the book says to make every second line thicker in the MNW triad for Aesthetics and readability, but most guides will explain that the “second” “line” is a coincidence: the guideline is thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes. This is not as important for beginners, but is important for higher levels and reflects the mechanics on your nib (you don’t want to break it!)

Still far more good than bad. It’s just limited to beginners. ( )