philateli-graphics Quarterly Publication of the Graphics Philately Association Volume 38, Numbers 1-2 • Whole Number 149 • January/April 2016 ISBN 9739-6198

Calligraphy in Philately: Part 1 1550 BCE by Egyptian scribes. Evidence of amazing ancient Kathy Bell, retired Professor of Art Egyptian medical knowledge, the Ebers Papyrus contains History, Art Education, and Professional descriptions of simple surgeries, a sizeable pharmacology, and Calligrapher instructions for the setting of broken bones. Egyptian medicine, both incredibly sophisticated and superstitious, Te word calligraphy derives from the Greek words abounds with magical incantations and kalos plus grafos meaning beautiful writing. “foul applications” to drive out disease- Calligraphy is created using a specially shaped pen causing demons. that has a fat, wide tip. Held at a constant slant, Te Ebers Papyrus was only decipherable when the pen is moved sideways it makes a thin line. after the Rosetta Stone revealed the When it’s moved in a perpendicular direction, it interpretation of Egyptian Hieroglyphs. produces a thick line. Tat is, as the calligrapher Interpretation was still difcult because changes the direction of movement, the line thickness some content was rarely seen medical varies from the thinnest to the thickest possible. terminology. Initial letters, in contrast to textual calligraphy, are Fig. 1, Sc 2207 Te Papyrus is in the form of a 110 drawn with a pointed pen and painted in. page scroll (scrolls were made by sewing together pages of papyrus) about 20 meters in length. Hieratic symbols, written hen compiling my personal calligraphic horizontally from right to left in parallel rows, were derived stamp collection I had to make choices. from Hieroglyphs somewhat abstracted from the original Austria, for example, uses a beautiful pictographs. Tough Hieroglyphs were generally carved in blackletterW typeface for the country name on stamps, stone and painted, Hieratic was usually written in ink with a but I decided I wanted unique specimens of calligraphy. reed brush on papyrus. Hieratic script, which existed parallel Several European countries have shown the decorated to Hieroglyphic writing, was originally useful cont. on page 4 initial letters found in their ancient historical documents. Tat was closer, but not quite what I wanted for my collection. I desired the actual hand-written material that originally followed the initial letter. Over several this issue years I found interesting specimens, particularly enjoying Calligraphy: Part 1...... 1 & 4 - 7 research of the original document and the purpose for GPA News...... 2 which it was written. Te following documents and coordinating stamps are arranged according to the age Exhibition: Eric Gill of the original document. Letters Are Things, Not Pictures of Things.....3 Origami...... 7 - 10 EBERS PAPYRUS, 1550 BCE; GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, SCOTT #2207, 1981 New Issues of Graphic Interest...... 10 - 15 Te Ebers Papyrus, the oldest example examined Biographical Dictionary: in this article (Fig.1), was written in Hieratic script in Alois Senefelder...... 16 e Codex (book with pages sewn on one side)waswritten Te Codex(book withpagessewn Bible. Herbrew the of manuscript complete oldest the oftheAleppoCodex, one hand-writtenbookthan thestory ISRAEL, SCOTT #1420,2000 THE ALEPPOCODEX,930 CE; the western calendar, whenthescribewasaround 40. dates during the twelfth year of the Dali era, about 777 BCE in of the National Palace Museum, but this is the only survivor. It of characters. among scrolls of the Tang Dynasty because of its size linesofcharactersandisunique raphy contains126vertical and number autobiography, ahandscroll over 24feetlong.Tisautobiog- appreciation oftheindividualityartist. be readable. Wild stylewassouniqueit established a new it retains enoughoftheessentialformcharacterto described as “galloping and surging,” and “unrestrained,” yet (Fig. 2) is an example of wild style Chinese cursive fromsuperior to,painting. the Tang Fig. 2,Sc2100. Tere canhardly woven beamore dramaticstory around Te writingonScott2100(Fig. ofHuai-Su’s 2)waspart CalliGRaphY T ere were originally three scrolls in the collection accorded areputation equalto,andattimes SCOTT #2100,1978 772 BCE;REPUBLICOFCHINA, HUAI-SU, TANG DYNASTY, where ishousedinthelibrary. thepapyrus of Egyptology at the University of Leipzig, by George Ebers in 1873. Ebers was professor and laterwasusedforreligious purposes. records or, texts, asinthiscase,instructional cont. from page1 In China,calligraphy haslongbeen T T e Ebers Papyrus waspurchased inT e unlikely looking writing on Sc 2100 the Tang Dynasty. His style was writers ofcursive charactersin recognized asoneofthegreatest his early30’s hewasalready being late 8th century, 799-737 BCE. By to thenext,connectingthem. writer’s movements from one stroke written separately. T writing characters that were normally cursive involves joining and rapidly Dynasty (907-618 BCE). Wild style Calligrapher Huai-Su lived in the for f nancial and business e line traces the ebes Fig. 3,Sc1420. Tiberias (Fig. 3). (Fig. Tiberias of city the in Buyda ben Slomo by CE 930 in Israel on November 29, 1947, riots broke out in Aleppo as itlayinavault undertheAleppoSynagogue. tightly it was almost impossible for scholars to access it, manuscripts, but the Aleppo community guarded it so Te Codexwasindemandfor useincorrecting other Scrolls, whichwere writtenabout1,000years earlier. identical tothewording intheDead preserved Sea Its textisseenasthemostaccurateBible text,almost since 1920)where there wasalargeJewish community. it wasmoved ofSyria toAleppo(whichhasbeenpart it was sent to Cairo, Egypt. During the 14th century, Tiberius to Jerusalem; then, under attack by the Crusaders, sheets ofparchment ofwhich295stillexist. Rabbis insingingthetext.TeoriginalCodexhad380 books of Moses), cantellation marks were added to aidOnce the synagogues introduced the singing of the Torahof vowel points (thewas necessary to indicate pronunciation. but as the language had fallen out of daily use, thethe addition letters. Hebrew was often written with only consonants,text of the Aleppo Codex and added vowel points below possible andsuspendedfrom ahorizontal lineatthetop. the vertical ones. Letters are spaced as close together as a vertical position so all horizontal lines are thicker than correct relation tothepreceding one.T the scribehastovisualize thenextletterto placeitin but theindividuallettersare writtenfrom lefttoright, or vellum. Since Hebrew iswrittenfrom righttoleft, T When theUnited Nations recognized theState of After about100years, thebookwasmoved from Aaron ben Asher carefully proofread and corrected the e writing was done with a quill pen on parchment e pen is held in e CalliGRaphY cont. on page 6 arsun was the scribe, scribe, the was arsun eir coat of of coat eir mountain men men mountain been have not may soldiers, superior knew they but mountains. the by Summoned of banner the orhallzsun. is medieval manuscript was joined Tis medieval and the illuminator was Magnús Prestr Prestr Magnús was illuminator the and T 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 owned was Flateyjarbók Island. on Flatey who lived is manuscript is written in a freehand version version is written in a freehand manuscript is T e Færeyinga Saga, written shortly after 1200, was a history history a was 1200, after shortly written Saga, Færeyinga e Fridolin was an Irish monk/missionary on the to Säkingen was an Irish Fridolin his and Fridolin a manuscript backs St. the stamp, On T Fig. 6, Sc 418. 6, Fig. Fig. 5, Sc 819. Fig. Fridolin, they retreated to the hills and rolled rolled and hills the to retreated they Fridolin, After attackers. their on down boulders large form to united areas rural several victory, the Glarus.the Confederacy of T robe priestly his in Fridolin St. displays arms as seen on the stamp. ground, a red backed by appearance on the Coat His the 11th century. in Rhine river was Urso of Arms of Glarus is due to an early convert, Urso. willed who, in gratitude to Fridolin, landowner a wealthy Canton modern the comprise that him large land holdings and will the over unhappy was brother Urso’s Glarus. of Urso deed the produced Fridolin court. in Fridolin challenged his death, which settled the lawsuit. before him given had red banner. composed bastarda, for French script, bâtarde of medieval and curved connections cursive added with blackletter of that to a translation of the few words fourishes. According the battle. can be seen, it seems to commemorate 1970 #418, 1374-94; ICELAND, SCOTT FLATEYJARBÓK, T convertedto Christianity. were Islands the Faroe of how in copied were it of parts but lost, been has manuscript original manuscript medieval a Book), Island Flat or (Flatey Flateyjarbók (spelled Te Flateyjarbók Icelandic. originally written in Old phonetically since the original spelling has been lost) was coast of of the west Island, compiled in 1387-94 on Flatey of scribe a of name the know to rare extremely is It Iceland. ð Pór Jon know we this time period, yet e Glarus In the frst 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 e spirals shown, which have have which shown, spirals e , probably occupied most of the left margin. , probably is approach to layout creates a very dense, black black dense, very a creates layout to approach is 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 e Constitutiones Jacobi II Regis Majoricum is Majoricum II Regis Te Constitutiones Jacobi 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 T 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 square the of bottom and top the at seen and spirals left the as top, such the occupy usually letter, initial the containing bottom margins of the page. T been cut of typical of a late gothic manuscript, featuring illuminated illuminated featuring manuscript, gothic late a of typical (small illustration) initials that contain a miniature in Latin, and the Te codex is authored and gold leaf. named so was Blackletter style. blackletter in is calligraphy and letters both between space in compactness its to due lines. T rectangle on the page, hence the name blackletter. a codex outlining the laws and privileges of citizens laws and privileges of citizens a codex outlining the brief period as an independent during its of Majorca has It centuries. 14th early and 13th late the in kingdom Brussels. in Library Royal I Albert the in preserved been Part of its content describes the postal system of Majorca. 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 assumed assumed was it years, For burned. was synagogue the and had burned is called, the Codex as the Crown, that and discovery e Codex’s the synagogue. T along with story detective makes a good in as written retrieval True Codex: A in Te Aleppo Friedman Matti 2012 by of an Ancient Pursuit and Faith, of Obsession, Story of the in the Museum resides Te Codex now Bible. in Jerusalem. Museum Book as part of the Israel Fig. 7,Sc1261. FRANCE, SCOTT #1261,1969 HENRY IV& THE EDICTOFNANTES,1598; down theleftmarginoftext. stamp alsogives usagoodlookatilluminationextending less controlled andconsistant.Tepagerepresented onthe Compared totheConstitutionesJacobi IIcodex,itis clearly elements, such asthe‘r’ thatisonlyhalf written andleans Navarre). and France France etdeNavarre” (Henry by thegrace ofGod, King of line. Itintroductory says, “Henry par la grace de Dieu Roy de large enoughtoberead, even withamagnifyingglass,isthe religious structure inplacebefore hisreign. France. of religion rea while Huguenots toward religious tolerancegranting religious freedom to the with theEdict ofNantes. TeEdict wasacautiousstep Margaret of Valois, thedaughterofCatherinedeMedici in cause. He converted to the Catholic Church in order to marry Pyrenees where he was born), where he supported the Huguenot became Henry III, King of Navarre (the small kingdom in the King Henry IV of France had been raised as a Protestant. He violent f T e only part oftheEdict featuredTe onlypart onSc1261(Fig. 7) e French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) was a period of

ghting between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). CalliGRaphY to Iceland in1971asanationaltreasure. home for three centuries before being returned in Copenhagenandremained outsideofits Flateyjarbók wasaddedtotheRoyal Library surrendered hisprecious heirloomin1656. state, either as a gift or for payment. Finnsson required allancientbooksbedonatedtothe land. By 1651,KingFrederick ofNorway heirloom, despitetheoferofalargetract refused by Finnsson whovalued itasan ancient bookforanationalarchive were cont. from page5 T Te textiswritteninacasualblackletter. f e Edict returned the country to the T rming Catholicism as the established is largest writing is a blend of medieval Attempts to purchase the the Wars ofReligion endto a temporary April 13,1598heput France in1589.On years later. Protestantism four 1572, butreverted to He becameKingof beautiful maidens, andsword-wielding horsemen. millennium. T e dragonisaccompanied by freworks, dragon created oftheturn acelebrationworthy Goldaus. Sikander by designed dragon mechanical a building in part took Magicon, Hollywood’s including companies, 20 than More format. high-tech a on took pageant ancient the however, 2000 In August. in place takes which festival, Dragon the of Slaying the celebrated lady oftheCastleFurth tosacrif conspiracy.in amortal T was determined to battle the dragon until he was captured dragon wasforafearlessknighttokillit.T Castle ofFurth anditslands.T power of the dragon and loose a formidable threat to the A hundred years later, Martin Luther wouldcomplete executed by theCatholicChurch toquellreformers. Jan Hus (Anglicized toJon Huss), atthestake.Hus was attack wasvengeance fortheburningoftheirreformer, the armiesofBohemiaandGermany. T between battle violent a was Dragon, the of Slaying GERMANY, SCOTT #2134,2001 FURTH DRAGON FESTIVAL, LANCING 1590; writing usedinrenaissance Italy thanofmedieval writing. between lineshowever, ismore typicalofHumanist fourished. Teluxuriousamountofspacewithinand on therightsideofstampare signatures similarly taller thanthoseintherest ofthedocument.T with elaboratef Navarre. in ‘v’ on the proceeding letter and the use of a ‘u’ in place of the Fig. 8,Sc2134. For over 500 years, the town of Furth im Waldim has Furth of town the years, 500 Forover T e origin of the Drachenstich Furth im Wald,im Furth Drachenstich the of origin e T ourishes, and the introductory letters are e capital letters are highly ornamented T e mechanical,f e only other hope was for a young e only way of stopping the ce herselfforthepeople. inspire the evil and bloodletting T an ancientcurse. awakening from about adragon rebellion, was to theBohemian distantly related had begun. the reforms Hus re-breathing re-breathing Te legend, e evils, violence e knight Udo e Bohemian Bohemian e e writings ORiGaMi ey are ose mills we all all we mills ose owers, angels and and angels owers, In the 20th century we we century 20th the In found paper windmills windmills paper found 3). In the fair (Fig. at childhood folding childhood folding 1), (Fig. planes paper paper and 2) (Fig. boats hats, or walking with paper windmills. some countries like Chile, a part the windmills are of their national, cultural heritage. T interestingly, remember, painting a in found be can in Brueghel Pieter by e oldest referencesthis to As we know, paper isAs awe Chineseknow, invention. Early examples of paper folding are by monks (the Buddhist Doncho and Hoso, the Korean 1560 (Fig. 4-5). Only recently do all recently Only 4-5). (Fig. 1560 fall equally under fabrics’ these ‘folded more the like “origami,” heading the f traditional cranes, frogs, 6). postmen (Fig. cont. on page 8 e invention of paper came to inJapan 610, cates, but are attached to gifts to express “good ong before I heard of origami, I had I heard ong before dealt with the artpaper of already their spent me, like us, of Many folding. Fig. 3, Venezuela Venezuela 3, Fig. 1967, Sc. C973. Fig. 1, France, 2010, Sc. 3888. 1, France, Fig. 2011, Sc. 2492. 2, Greece Fig. Origami: One, two, three, four, hat of. of, hat (made) (made) One, two, three, four, hat of paper. (made) Netherlands Theo Huisman, Translated by Amanda L. Morgenstern not certif Noshi consistswishes.” of white paper folded with a strip of dried abalone or meat, (considered a token of good fortune) and envelopes. centuries, For the folding instructions were transmitted orally. Ranjin.) T which developed its own way of making paper and paper folds, plaits). T folding (creases, ceremonial of kind a concern gift wrappers (noshi 熨斗), T “origami-tsuki.” distinct from origami fold entirely L

. th Fig. 6, Solomon 6, Fig. 1974, Islands Sc. 272. e second half of of half second e century to the 20 th http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/ by Pieter Brueghel, which features over 200 200 over features which Brueghel, Pieter by Games Children’s e examples included in this article bring us from from us bring article this in included examples e T e design of Sc 2134 (Fig. 8) takes the traditional traditional takes the 8) 2134 (Fig. of Sc Te design www.home.ix.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/faroese/faroese-index-e.htm 1789: 1450 to Europe, of.” Edict “Nantes, Michael. Wolfe, e Beginnings of Wild Cursive Script in Chinese Script in Cursive Wild of & Te Beginnings Huai-Su China Online Museum, “Huai-Su, Tang Dynasty, Calligraphy.” Calligraphy.” Dynasty, Tang “Huai-Su, Museum, China Online e Art of Written Forms: Te Teory and Forms: Written of M. Te Art Anderson, Donald (has a searchable digital copy of the http://aleppocodex.org (has a searchable children playing a variety of 80+ games. a variety playing children of the section featuring paper windmills. Enlargement 5, Fig. Fig. 4, Fraktur blackletter form of ‘F’ (Furth) and alters it to and alters of ‘F’ (Furth) form blackletter Fraktur facing a sword. dragon portray the fre-breathing T up to the renaissance. ancient Egypt the story the 17 us from will take 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. World. Modern of the Early Encyclopedia 2016, www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Edict-of-Nantes.aspx. 30 Mar. Aleppo Codex) Ballads) pages of the Faroese (has photographs of several (Wiesbaden GmbH: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998). Verlag, Steiner (Wiesbaden GmbH: Franz Calligraphy. calligraphy-huai-su.php. Accessed June 12, 2015, 2015, 12, June Accessed (N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., Inc., Winston, Rinehart and Holt, (N.Y.: of Calligraphy. Practice 18-21). 1969, pp. References: