Once again Archivalia points us to an interesting site, this time on Scottish handwriting.

The site is focused on helping researchers read early-modern (1500 – 1750) Scottish handwritten documents. One of the serious limitations of utilizing historical documents is the legibility of that material. Hence, the aim of the Scottish handwriting site to help with that.

But, what does this have to do with book design? Well, as with any form of calligraphy, exposure to the stylistic lettering of 17th century Scottish handwriting can inspire a designer to try variations with typefaces for book covers and parts of the interior layout.

We remember being at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh where Ceci got quite excited about the traditional Scottish lettering that was used on some of the walls of the museum; we have photos around here somewhere. BTW, that’s a fantastic museum if you’re ever in Edinburgh.

The most unexpected advice

“Reading old documents is like playing golf.” Take the 1 hour basic tutorial in Scottish handwriting to learn why.

If you don’t have an hour, then at least take a look at the compendium of letter forms in Scottish documents.