philateli-graphics Quarterly Publication of the Graphics Philately Association Volume 38, Number 1 • Whole Number 149 • January/April 2016 ISBN 9739-6198
Calligraphy in Philately: Part 1 Papyrus contains descriptions of simple surgeries, a sizeable Kathy Bell, retired Professor of Art pharmacology, and instructions for the setting of broken History, Art Education, and Professional bones. Egyptian medicine, both incredibly sophisticated Calligrapher and superstitious, abounds with magical incantations and “foul applications” to The word calligraphy derives from the Greek words drive out disease-causing demons. kalos plus grafos meaning beautiful writing. Calligraphy The Ebers Papyrus was only is created using a specially shaped pen that has a flat, decipherable after the Rosetta Stone wide tip. Held at a constant slant, when the pen is revealed the interpretation of Egyptian moved sideways it makes a thin line. When it’s moved in Hieroglyphs. Interpretation was still a perpendicular direction, it produces a thick line. That difficult because some content was is, as the calligrapher changes the direction of movement, rarely seen medical terminology. the line thickness varies from the thinnest to the thickest Fig. 1, Sc 2207 The Papyrus is in the form of a 110 possible. Initial letters, in contrast to textual calligraphy, page scroll (scrolls were made by sewing together pages of are drawn with a pointed pen and painted in. papyrus) about 20 meters in length. Hieratic symbols, written When compiling my personal calligraphic stamp horizontally from right to left in parallel rows, were derived collection I had to make choices. Austria, for example, from Hieroglyphs somewhat abstracted from the original uses a beautiful blackletter typeface for the country pictographs. Though Hieroglyphs were generally carved in name on stamps, but I decided I wanted unique stone and painted, Hieratic was usually written in ink with a specimens of calligraphy. Several European countries reed brush on papyrus. Hieratic script, which existed parallel have shown the decorated initial letters found in their to Hieroglyphic writing, was originally useful cont. on page 4 ancient historical documents. That was closer, but not quite what I wanted for my collection. I desired the actual hand-written material that originally followed this issue the initial letter. Over several years I found interesting Calligraphy: Part 1...... 1 & 4 - 7 specimens, particularly enjoying research of the original document and the purpose for which it was GPA News...... 2 written. The following documents and coordinating Exhibition: Eric Gill stamps are arranged according to the age of the Letters Are Things, Not Pictures of Things. . . . . 3 original document. Origami...... 7 - 10 EBERS PAPYRUS, 1550 BCE; GERMAN New Issues of Graphic Interest...... 10 - 15 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, SCOTT #2207, 1981 The Ebers Papyrus, the oldest example examined Biographical Dictionary: in this article (Fig.1), was written in Hieratic script in Alois Senefelder...... 12 1550 BCE by Egyptian scribes. Evidence of amazing ancient Egyptian medical knowledge, the Ebers The Codex (book with pages sewn onone side)waswritten The Codex (bookwith pagessewn the oldestcomplete manuscriptoftheHerbrew Bible. oftheAleppo Codex, one hand-written bookthanthestory ISRAEL, SCOTT #1420,2000 THE ALEPPOCODEX,930 CE; the western calendar, whenthescribewasaround 40. dates duringthetwelfth year oftheDali era,about777BCEin of theNational Palace Museum, butthisistheonlysurvivor. It of characters.There were originallythree scrolls inthecollection among scrolls ofthe Tang Dynastybecauseofitssize andnumber linesofcharactersandisunique raphy contains126vertical autobiography, ahandscroll over 24feetlong.Thisautobiog- appreciation oftheindividualityartist. be readable. Wild stylewassouniqueit established a new it retains enoughoftheessentialformcharacterto yet described as“galloping“unrestrained,” andsurging,” and (Fig. 2)isanexampleofwildstyleChinesecursive from the Tang painting. TheunlikelylookingwritingonSc2100 to, superior Fig. 2,Sc2100. There canhardly woven beamore dramaticstory around The writingonScott2100(Fig. of 2)waspart Huai-Su’s CALLIGRAPHY accorded areputation equalto,andattimes SCOTT #2100,1978 772 BCE;REPUBLICOFCHINA, HUAI-SU, TANGDYNASTY, where ishousedinthelibrary. thepapyrus of Egyptology attheUniversity ofLeipzig, by George Ebers in1873.Ebers wasprofessor and laterwasusedforreligious purposes. records or, texts, asinthiscase,instructional cont. from page1 In China,calligraphy haslongbeen The Ebers waspurchased inThebes Papyrus the Tangthe Dynasty. His stylewas writers ofcursive charactersin recognized asoneofthegreatest his early30’s hewasalready being late 8thcentury, 799-737BCE.By to thenext,connectingthem. writer’s movements from onestroke written separately. Thelinetracesthe writing charactersthatwere normally cursive involves joiningandrapidly Dynasty (907-618BCE). Wild style Calligrapher Huai-Su lived inthe for financial and business business for financialand Fig. 3,Sc1420. Israel on November 29,1947,riots broke out in Aleppo as itlayinavault underthe AleppoSynagogue. tightly itwasalmostimpossible forscholarstoaccessit, manuscripts, buttheAleppo communityguarded itso The Codexwasindemand for useincorrecting other Scrolls, whichwere written about1,000years earlier. identical tothewording intheDead preserved Sea Its textisseenasthemostaccurateBible text,almost since 1920)where there wasalargeJewish community. it wasmoved ofSyria toAleppo(whichhasbeenpart it wassenttoCairo, Egypt. During the14thcentury, Tiberius toJerusalem; then,underattack by theCrusaders, sheets ofparchment ofwhich295stillexist. Rabbis insingingthetext.TheoriginalCodexhad380 books ofMoses), cantellationmarks were addedtoaidthe Once synagogues introduced thesingingof Torah (the of vowel toindicate pronunciation. pointswasnecessary but asthelanguagehadfallenoutofdailyuse,addition the letters.Hebrew wasoftenwrittenwithonlyconsonants, text oftheAleppoCodexandaddedvowel pointsbelow possible andsuspendedfrom ahorizontal lineatthetop. ones.Lettersarethe vertical spacedasclosetogether positionsoallhorizontala vertical linesare thickerthan correct relation tothepreceding one.Thepenis heldin the scribehastovisualize thenextletterto placeitin but theindividuallettersare writtenfrom lefttoright, or vellum. Since Hebrew iswrittenfrom righttoleft, Tiberias (Fig. 3). in 930CEby Slomo benBuyda inthecityof When theUnited Nations recognized theState of After about100years, thebookwasmoved from Aaron benAshercarefully proofread andcorrected the The writingwasdonewithaquillpenonparchment CALLIGRAPHY cont. on page 6 mountain menmountain beennot have may soldiers,superior but they knew the mountains. by Summoned ofthe banner This medieval manuscript was joined This medieval and the illuminator was Magnús Prestr Prestr and the illuminator was Magnús Thorhallzsun. Carl possibly by Olaf, of St. to the Saga Christian Rafu (1795-1864), to make today. have up the complete book we Finnsson, Jon by was owned Flateyjarbók Island. on Flatey who lived Fridolin was an Irish monk/missionary on the to Säkingen was an Irish Fridolin his and Fridolin a manuscript backs St. the stamp, On Saga, written shortly after 1200, was a history The Færeyinga Fig. 6, Sc 418. 6, Fig. Fig. 5, Sc 819. Fig. Fridolin, they retreated to the hills and rolled to the hills and they retreated Fridolin, attackers. After on their large boulders down united to form ruralseveral areas the victory, Glarus.the Confederacy of Their coat of in his priestly robe Fridolin arms displays St. as seen on the stamp. ground, a red backed by on the Coat appearance His in the 11th century. Rhine river was Urso of Arms of Glarus is due to an early convert, Urso. willed who, in gratitude to Fridolin, landowner a wealthy him large land that comprise the modern Cantonholdings and the will was unhappy over brother Glarus. Urso’s of the deed Urso produced in court.Fridolin challenged Fridolin his death, which settled the lawsuit. before him given had version is written in a freehand manuscript This banner. red composed for bastarda, script, French bâtarde of medieval connections andof blackletter with added cursive curved that to a translation of the few words According flourishes. the battle. can be seen, it seems to commemorate 1970 #418, 1374-94; ICELAND, SCOTT FLATEYJARBÓK, The converted to Christianity. were Islands the Faroe of how copied inoriginal manuscript has been lost, but parts of it were manuscript Book), a medieval Island or Flat (Flatey Flateyjarbók Flateyjarbók (spelled The Icelandic. originally written in Old phonetically since the original spelling has been lost) was west coast of off the Island, compiled in 1387-94 on Flatey the name of a scribe of to know rare is extremely It Iceland. was the scribe, Pórðarsun Jon know we this time period, yet In the first In line of Sc 2528 some 4) are (Fig. rubricated words or (written in red blue as a means of emphasizing certain words). decoration,Extra A Swiss stamp, Sc 819 (Fig. 5), commemorates the Sc 819 (Fig. stamp, A Swiss In form, calligraphy in the Constitutiones is very form, calligraphy in the Constitutiones is In The Constitutiones Jacobi II Regis Majoricum is Regis Jacobi II The Constitutiones Fig. 4, Sc 2528. 4, Fig. 600th anniversary of the Battle of Näfels (1388) in of Näfels 600th anniversary of the Battle which 500 men of the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland Glarus The of Austrians. defeated a large troop BANNER OF ST. FRIDOLEIN, 1388; BANNER OF ST. #819, 1988 SWITZERLAND, SCOTT such as the spirals seen at the top and bottom of the square left and the top, usually occupy containing the initial letter, which havebottom margins of the page. The spirals shown, occupied most of the left margin. been cut off, probably typical of a late gothic manuscript, featuring illuminatedtypical of a late gothic manuscript, featuring (small illustration) initials that contain a miniature in Latin, and the The codex is authored and gold leaf. so named was calligraphy is in blackletter style. Blackletter both letters anddue to its compactness in space between very a creates dense, black to layout lines. This approach on the page, hence the name blackletter. rectangle a codex outlining the laws and privileges of citizens laws and privileges of citizens a codex outlining the independent during its brief period as an of Majorca has centuries. It kingdom in the late 13th and early 14th Librarybeen preserved in the Albert in Brussels. I Royal of its content describes the postal system of Majorca. Part ILLUMINATED CODEX, CONSTITUTIONES CODEX, CONSTITUTIONES ILLUMINATED 14TH II REGIS MAJORICUM, JACOBI #2528, 1987 SCOTT SPAIN, CENTURY; and the synagogue was burned. For years, it was it years, For burned. was the synagogue and assumed had burned is called, the Codex as the Crown, that and discovery Codex’s The synagogue. with the along story detective makes a good in as written retrieval True Codex: A Aleppo in The Friedman Matti 2012 by of an Ancient Pursuit and Faith, of Obsession, Story of the Museum the resides in now The Codex Bible. in Jerusalem. Museum Book as part of the Israel Fig. 7,Sc1261. elements, suchasthe ‘r’ thatisonly halfwritten andleans France andNavarre). This largestwritingisablend of medieval France etdeNavarre” (Henry by thegraceofGod, Kingof line.Itintroductory says, “HenryparlagracedeDieu Roy de large enoughtoberead, even withamagnifyingglass,isthe religious structure inplace before hisreign. religion ofFrance.the to The Edict returned thecountry Huguenots whilereaffirming Catholicismas the established toward religious tolerancegranting religious freedom to the with theEdict ofNantes. The Edict wasacautiousstep Margaret of Valois, thedaughterofCatherinedeMedici in cause. He totheCatholicChurch converted inorder tomarry Pyrenees where hewasborn),where theHuguenot hesupported became HenryIII,KingofNavarre (thesmallkingdominthe IVofFranceKing Henry hadbeenraisedasaProtestant. He violent fightingbetween Catholicsand Protestants (Huguenots). FRANCE, SCOTT #1261,1969 HENRY IV& THE EDICTOFNANTES,1598; down theleftmarginoftext. stamp alsogives usagoodlookatillumination extending less controlled andconsistant.Thepage represented onthe Compared totheConstitutionesJacobi IIcodex,itis clearly The only part ofthe Edict featuredThe onlypart onSc1261(Fig. 7) The French Wars of Religion (1562-1598)wasaperiodof CALLIGRAPHY to Iceland in1971asanationaltreasure. home forthree centuriesbefore beingreturned in Copenhagenandremained outsideofits Flateyjarbók wasaddedtotheRoyal Library surrendered hisprecious heirloomin1656. state, eitherasagiftorforpayment.Finnsson required allancientbooksbedonatedtothe land. By 1651,KingFrederick ofNorway heirloom, despitetheofferofalargetract refused by Finnsson whovalued itasan ancient bookforanationalarchive were cont. from page5 The textiswritteninacasualblackletter. Attempts to purchase the Attempts topurchase the the Wars ofReligion endto a temporary April 13,1598heput France in1589.On years later. Protestantism four 1572, butreverted to He becameKingof beautiful maidens,and sword-wielding horsemen. millennium. The dragonisaccompanied by fireworks, dragon created ofthe turn ofthe a celebrationworthy Sikander Goldaus. Themechanical,fire-breathing inbuildingamechanicaldragondesignedbypart companies, includingHolly- wood’s Magicon, took pageant tookonahigh-tech format.More than20 takes placeinAugust. In 2000however, theancient celebrated theSlaying oftheDragon festival, which lady oftheCastleFurth tosacrificeherself forthepeople. conspiracy.in amortal Theonlyotherhopewasfora young was determinedtobattlethedragonuntilhecaptured dragon wasforafearlessknighttokillit.The Udo Castle ofFurth anditslands.Theonlywayofstoppingthe power ofthedragonandloose aformidablethreat tothe A hundred years later, Martin Luther wouldcomplete executed by theCatholicChurch toquellreformers. Jan Hus (Anglicized toJon Huss), atthestake.Hus was attack wasvengeance fortheburningoftheirreformer, the armiesofBohemiaandGermany. TheBohemian Slaying oftheDragon, wasaviolentbattlebetween GERMANY, SCOTT #2134,2001 FURTH DRAGON FESTIVAL, LANCING 1590; writing usedinrenaissance Italy thanofmedieval writing. between lineshowever, ismore typicalofHumanist flourished. Theluxuriousamountofspacewithinand on therightsideofstampare signatures similarly taller thanthoseintherest ofthedocument.Thewritings lettersare with elaborateflourishes,andtheintroductory ‘v’ inNavarre. Thecapitallettersare highlyornamented on theproceeding letterandtheuseofa‘u’ inplaceofthe Fig. 8,Sc2134. For over 500years, thetown ofFurth im Wald has The originofthe Drachenstich imFurth Wald, inspire theevil and bloodletting The evils,violence an ancientcurse. awakening from about adragon rebellion, was to theBohemian distantly related had begun. the reforms Hus The legend, ORIGAMI In the 20th centuryIn we childhood folding 1), paper planes (Fig. and paper 2) boats (Fig. hats, or walking with paper windmills. found paper windmills at countries like Chile, the a part of windmills are their national, cultural we allheritage. Those mills interestingly, remember, can be found in a painting in 1560 Brueghel Pieter by recently, 4-5). Only (Fig. the fair (Fig. 3). In some 3). In the fair (Fig. As we know, paper is a Chinese paper is a Chinese know, As we folding are by monks (the Buddhist monks (the Buddhist by folding are Ranjin.) the Korean and Hoso, Doncho Japan of paper came to The invention do all these ‘folded fabrics’ fall equally fabrics’ do all these ‘folded like the more under the heading “origami,” angels and flowers, traditional cranes, frogs, 6). postmen (Fig. Early examples of paper invention. cont. on page 8 ong before I heard of origami, I had I heard ong before dealt with the artpaper of already me, spent their of us, like folding. Many Fig. 3, Venezuela Fig. 3, Venezuela 1967, Sc. C973. Fig. 1, France, 2010, Sc. 3888. 1, France, Fig. 2011, Sc. 2492. 2, Greece Fig. Origami: hat four, three, two, One, of. of, hat (made) (made) hat four, three, two, One, of paper. (made) Netherlands Theo Huisman, L. Morgenstern by Amanda Translated in 610, which developed its own way of making paper and way of making paper and its own in 610, which developed to references folds, plaits). The oldest paper folding (creases, this concern gift wrappers (noshi 熨斗), a kind of ceremonial They are “origami-tsuki.” distinct from origami fold entirely “good attached to gifts to express not certificates, but are consists of white paper folded with a strip of Noshi wishes.” a token of good fortune) dried abalone or meat, considered centuries, the folding instructions were For and envelopes. transmitted orally. L . th
Fig. 6, Solomon 6, Fig. 1974, Islands Sc. 272. century to the 20 th (has a searchable digital copy of the (has a searchable The examples included in this article included in this The examples from bring us The design of Sc 2134 (Fig. 8) takes the traditional traditional the 8) takes (Fig. 2134 of Sc design The Europe, 1450 to 1789: 1450 to Europe, of.” Edict “Nantes, Michael. Wolfe,