If I was told I could only keep 10 books, once the panic subsided,
I would immediately grab my tiny copy of "The Art of the Pen"...
...as well as its sister volume "Nature Illuminated."
To me the beauty of hand writing and painting come together
perfectly on each page, showing what humans can create.
Amazingly, the work was done by two different people!
The calligraphy was done in 1561-1562 by Georg Bocskay,
and the illuminations were added 15 years after he died by
Joris Hoefnagel. The art complements and sometimes
challenges the line of the writing, I wish I understood
what the words are saying too!
I picked up one of the books from the Portland Art Museum
gift shop years ago, and it has haunted me ever since.
This is one of my favorite pages, over-the-top lacy lettering,
with an equally beautiful moth balanced atop. The curve of the
snails' shells matches the curves of the letters. Glorious!
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