Tag Archives: book

erikkwakkel:

Medieval dachshund – Or: drawing with words

Here are three examples of a technique called “micrography”: decorative scenes that are drawn with words written in a tiny script. While there are examples from Latin books made in the West (here is one), the technique is particularly common in medieval Hebrew manuscripts. The drawings are usually found in biblical manuscripts and they appear to be commentaries to the text. The technique, whereby a scribe wrote in the smallest handwriting possible, goes back to the 9th century AD. The examples here, from the 13th century, shows just how entertaining the word-made drawings can be: they are an opportunity for the scribe to frolick in the margins of the page – like drawing a creature that looks like a dachshund.

Pic: London, British Library, Additional MS 21160 (13th century, more about the manuscript here). More about micrography here.

A little-known story about a movement, a magazine, and the computer’s arrival in art (MIT Press, 2014). Nice punch cardey textmodey design. And an important book.

Text graphics from an 1889 book: “Eli Perkins. Wit, humor and pathos” by Landon, Melville D. (Melville De Lancey) via.

Computer monsters’ by Stephen Manes and Paul Somerson (1984), via auntiepixelante.com.

From the book ’Computer Space Adventures’ by Paul Somerson and Stephen Manes (1984). Via auntiepixelante.com.

From the book ’Computer Space Adventures’ by Paul Somerson and Stephen Manes (1984). Via auntiepixelante.com.

Text graphics from 1763 . Free positioning of characters to make illustrations, instead of using woodcuts. From the book Medical observations and inquiries / by a Society of physicians in London.

h/t: Daryl Green

Forests for the Future. Rolf Harder 1981, via

Textile design book, 1898, via

Thread of Fate, the book! by raquel meyers.
9”x 7” Paperback, 176 Pages, Black & white #teletext and Color cover.
Get your copy at lulu.
Choose your destiny with a teletext page! More information here!