The Calligrapher's Ten Commandments

On the Making of Good Scrolls unto Thyself

I. Thou shalt not bear false witness

Work from period sources, not Walt Disney or Warner Brothers. Use medieval scripts – study them to understand the idiosyncrasies of the script, such as letter, word and line spacing, slant, pen angle, etc. Your personality will still show through (it IS your handwriting, after all!) but the goal should be a recreation of a medieval style. The hunt is half the fun, so take the time to do some research and try to achieve an authentic medieval look.

II. Thou shalt use quality materials.

Your aim should be for your work to last as long as the sources by which you’re inspired. This means using acid free paper, light fast ink, and quality paints.

III. Thou shalt honor the Crown and Coronet.

Keep in mind the purpose of the scroll: you are documenting the words of the Crown or Coronet. Be sure to leave room (and a prominent place) for what makes the work an official document: royalty signatures, royal and heraldic seals, and the official emblazon, if included in the award. That said, while you need to honor the tradition and meaning of the award, you may (with the Chancellor's permission) make slight modifications to the text - a great chance to personalize a scroll in a creative way!

IV. Thou shalt honor thy illuminator’s style.

Where possible, consult with the illuminator to match the font with the art in culture and time period. If it is not possible to do so, then use a simple textura quadrata, the “little black dress” of medieval calligraphy – it can be dressed up or down by the illuminator.

V. Thou shalt not covet thy illuminator’s space.

Leave lots of room for illumination and a wide matting border. And don’t crowd lines or letters together such that it makes the text a dense area; There should be a balance between the white space in the text and the white space in the rest of the page.

VI. Thou shalt not steal the show.

The purpose of the scroll is to communicate a message about the recipient, not show off the calligraphy. It’s a stage prop, not the play itself, so keep it readable by avoiding an overabundance of decoration. Flourishes, cadels, rubrication and other embellishments are beautiful, but should always fit the overall style of the finished piece – refer to Commandments I and IV.

VII. Thou shalt not split words or important phrases.

Yes, splitting words was quite period, but so was debtor’s prison. Text s

imply doesn’t read as w

ell when you split w

ords.

Think “certificate” when planning, and spend some time playing with the layout and spacing – it’s ok to leave a whole line for the name and/or blazon, if that makes a difference.

VIII. Thou shalt proofread thy work.

Everyone makes mistakes – wouldn’t you rather find yours before someone else spends hours illuminating it? AND before the recipient points it out?

IX. Thou shalt not make an unclean image.

Make sure to clean up your work – touch up rough edges and erase pencil marks, if they are not actually part of the medieval design. If you’re working on material that can be scraped, remove errors where possible.

X. Thou shalt honor thy commitments.

Or reworded, don’t make commitments you can’t honor. It’s ok to say “no” to too many assignments, and you’ll be happier if your workload isn’t breaking your back. Don’t be afraid to return an assignment that’s been hanging in your personal backlog for too long: there will always be another scroll to do, once you’ve finished what’s on your plate!