Photographs of inscriptions by Susan Southall.
Today the Calligraphy Society of Victoria takes down another
show of recent work, here in the Carmelite Library. This was a small show, held
to coincide with the visit to Australia of Patricia Lovett MBE, one of England’s
leading practitioners and historians in calligraphy. Patricia gave a lecture on
the subject in the Library in late December.
A marvellous side benefit of the Library’s collegial
friendship with the Society is inscriptions. When, in August 2016, the Society
put up its Workshop Works show, the Library was presented with a thankyou gift
of ‘Gospels and Acts’, the Saint John’s Bible volume handwritten and illuminated
by Donald Jackson. A simple handmade gold-edged bookplate did the job.
This time around the Library received a gift copy of Deirdre
and Craig Hassed’s ‘Illuminating Wisdom : words of wisdom, works of art’,
published by Exisle Publishing of Wollombi. The title page includes a
handwritten message from the Hasseds: “May the words & works in this book
be a source of inspiration & enjoyment.”
The orange flyleaf is covered with a dedication to the
Library in honour of the event in December.
On the day in question, Patricia Lovett signed copies of her
magnificent new book, ‘The Art and History of Calligraphy’, published by the
British Library. She used a special broad nib pen and brown ink to write ‘Carmelite
Library’, and a black biro to sign off with her name. Another excellent acquisition
to add to our collection of calligraphy books.
