View Illuminating: Edward Johnston and his Legacy
by Timothy Noad
Category:Calligraphy
Category:Illumination
In 1899, Edward Johnston was encouraged to start a class at the Central School of Arts and Crafts by WR Lethaby. His subject was to be ‘Illuminating.’ At that time the crafts of calligraphy and illumination were almost inseparable. The characteristically British tradition of presenting illuminated addresses, patents, charters and other documents had continued unabated since the Middle Ages, preserving many of the techniques of formal writing on vellum, gilding and decoration, and often incorporating heraldry. Johnston was to play a major part in the refining and invigoration of this tradition, particularly through the publication of Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering in 1906, and his impact on illumination is still apparent a century later.
Johnston would have been well aware of the Victorian enthusiasm for illuminated manuscripts of the Gothic era, reproduced and pastiched in works ranging from the antiquarian to the popular. William Morris advocated a more original approach than his contemporaries, emulating the illuminators of the past by analysis of their tools, materials and craft processes, rather than by slavish imitation. Johnston’s own early attempts at illumination are clearly inspired by the work of Morris, in which scrolling plants and flowers encapsulate the text, and he wrote: ‘Morris, who was a writer and illuminator before he was a painter, has shown us how beautiful modern illuminated writing can be and how in every case the method is to be sought in the old work and inspiration is to be found in nature’.1
In Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering, Johnston treats the former two subjects together in the first half of the book. He describes the application of decoration to simple lettering, progressing from coloured initials and pen-made patterns to raised gilding and more elaborate initials and borders. Three different types of illumination are distinguished: Barbaric, or geometric and abstract patterns, inspired by Romanesque and Renaissance work, Filigree or pen-made scrollwork, decorated with tiny gold leaves, and Natural or Limners’ work, using plant and animal designs inspired by nature. Like Morris he cautions against imitating medieval designs: …‘our own work is only honest when made in our own humour, time, and place…I have little doubt that an excellent modern style of illumination is quite feasible, in which the greatest possible richness of colour effect is achieved with extreme simplicity of form’.2 Johnston gives methodical and practical advice on mixing gesso and applying gold leaf, much of it still relevant today, and even includes a troubleshooting guide for diagnosing why the gold won’t stick! Whilst the body of his text focuses on the decoration of manuscriptbooks, he also gives an appendix covering illuminated addresses, with guidance for their wording, layout, decoration and the order of work.
An additional appendix, ‘On Gilding’, was supplied by Johnston’s pupil and associate Graily Hewitt. Hewitt was largely responsible for reformulating the recipe for gesso (which he calls ‘the asiso’), based on the fifteenth-century writings of Cennino Cennini. Highly skilled in gilding, he devised a style of illumination based upon Italian Renaissance ‘white vine,’ in which the initials are surrounded by a dense pattern of outlined flowers and foliage, set against richly coloured backgrounds. Among his followers were Ida Henstock, Madelyn Walker and Dorothy Hutton. Of Johnston’s own pupils, Louise Powell was significant as an illuminator, completing some of Morris’s manuscriptbooks and working in the Arts and Crafts idiom well into the mid-twentieth century. The conservative craft of illumination remained almost untouched by trends in contemporary art until comparatively recently.
The Society of Scribes and Illuminators was founded by Graily Hewitt and other pupils of Johnston in 1921 and working groups were formed to investigate subjects such as gilding, the use of vellum, and heraldry in illuminated manuscripts. The Society continues to provide a forum for the exchange of technical information and the sharing of members’ work. Among present-day practitioners, Sam Somerville has made a particular contribution to the investigation of the technical aspects of gilding.
In 1931, an exhibition was mounted by the SSI, ‘Three Centuries of Illuminated Addresses, Diplomas and Honorary Freedom Scrolls’. As a result of two World Wars, many memorial books and rolls of honour were also written out and illuminated by distinguished scribes. The Royal Air Force Book of Remembrance at St Clement Danes in London (1962–4) runs to eleven volumes and was worked on by a total of thirteen scribes, directed by Alfred Fairbank. Another pupil of Johnston, Irene Wellington, carried out the Wykehamist Roll of Honour for Winchester College in 1948. Its title page cleverly draws upon the style and techniques of the Anglo-Saxon Winchester school of illumination, characteristically tempered with an almost light-hearted originality.3
In the generation which followed, comprising many of the senior scribes and illuminators of today, calligraphy developed as an art form in its own right, less utilitarian, and often independent of any decoration at all. On the other hand, the techniques of illumination have been used to create images unrelated to traditional initials and borders. For example, in the highly personal work of Ann Hechle4, a pupil of Irene Wellington, gilded and painted geometric motifs are often scattered amongst the complex layers of textual imagery.
Her fellow pupil, Donald Jackson, has become pre-eminent in the world of illumination today, combining a respect for the techniques and materials of the past with an experimental and painterly approach. The St John’s Bible has returned illumination to its medieval roots in the decoration of sacred texts but, in line with Johnston’s precepts, it is no pastiche and the words are the starting point for the decoration.5 The illuminations also follow the Johnstonian progression from coloured initials to patterned borders and figurative illustrations. Donald Jackson’s techniques combine traditional craft skills with cutting-edge technology. The page layouts, pictorial images and patterns are often designed using a computer but the work is executed on calfskin vellum, using quills, gesso and powdered gold and an eclectic mix of inks, paints and pigments. With a confidence and freedom not normally associated with the work of an illuminator, Donald Jackson applies layers of paint and gesso with a brush or roller then adds further detail with quills, fine brushes or rubber stamps. He has assembled a team of craftsmen to work with him on the Bible, among whom are illuminators Sally Mae Joseph, Hazel Dolby and from the USA, Thomas Ingmire and Suzanne Moore.The decoration of conventional texts can vary enormously. Sheila Waters’s manuscriptof Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’ (completed 1978), combines elements of Celtic illumination with folk art, its intricate patterns and colouring appropriate to the language of the play.6 Marie Angel’s ‘The Caterpillar’ (1979) illuminates a text by Christina Rossetti, contrasting plain Roman capitals with plants and insects painted in a highly naturalistic miniaturist’s technique.7 
The traditional work of the illuminator continues apace in presentation scrolls and ceremonial books. Joan Pilsbury, a pupil of Irene Wellington, has distinguished herself in this field, combining consistent writing with rich heraldry and subtle floral decorations in opaque colours, combining to create a calmly balanced effect on the page. An example is the Royal National Lifeboat Institute Memorial Book (completed 1974), produced in collaboration with Wendy Westover, Heather Child,Wendy Gould and Margaret Alexander.8 Joan Pilsbury has also made an inventive contribution to the illumination of Letters Patent for the Crown Office over many years.9
The initial ‘E’ for Elizabeth II is traditionally executed in raised gold and the decoration incorporates the shield and other portions of the Royal Arms. Donald Jackson uses these elements very differently, adding vigorous quill-made flourishes around the initial to give a contemporary feel. Anthony Wood, by contrast, works in a medieval-inspired heraldic idiom, and must be acknowledged for imparting the traditional skills of calligraphy, heraldry and illumination at Reigate School of Art between 1965 and 1987.10 At the College of Arms there has traditionally been a division of work between the heraldic artist and the scrivener, which in my own work I have endeavoured to reconcile in order to give a visual unity to Letters Patent granting Arms.11 As Denis Brown has shown, it is possible to give an exciting modern flavour to a documentusing the traditional elements of text, initial and illumination. In The Founding of Trinity College, Dublin (2002), he contrasts a boldly coloured and gilded heading with intricate italic flourishes, incorporating medieval and Celtic features into his personal style.12
The rich tradition of illuminating covers a wide spectrum of styles and techniques and features in the work of many calligraphers who it has not been possible to mention here. Following Edward Johnston’s advice and example, its greatest practitioners have used traditional skills and ideas from the past to shape their own work, reinventing it and making it relevant for their own times. The constraints of a commission within a prescribed format may be regarded as a challenge rather than a straightjacket. As Johnston wrote a century ago: ‘There is a fairly steady demand for Illuminated Addresses; but the independent craftsman would have to establish himself by useful practice, and by seizing opportunities, and by doing his work well’.13
1 Quoted by Donald Jackson in More Than Fine Writing, pp. 30-1
2 Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering, pp.196-7
3 Illustrated in More Than Fine Writing, p.98
4 p.80
5 pp.35/9
6 Commissioned by Edward Homby, illustrated in Painting for Calligraphers, p.34
7 V and A Collection, illustrated in Painting for Calligraphers, p.37
8 Illustrated here and in Painting for Calligraphers, p.99
9 p62
10 The course continued to run in an amended form until its regretful closure in 2006.
11 p47
12 p34
13 Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering, p.xxi
Marie Angel Painting for Calligraphers London, 1984
Christopher Calderhead Illuminating the Word; the Making of the Saint John’s Bible Collegeville, 2005
H.Child, H.Collins, A.Hechle & D.Jackson More Than Fine Writing; Irene Wellington: Calligrapher (1904-1984) London, 1986
Heather Child Calligraphy Today; Twentieth Century Tradition & Practice London, 1988
Edward Johnston Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering London, 1929 (sixteenth edition)
Joyce Irene Whalley The Art of Calligraphy; Western Europe and America London, 1980
The Edward Johnston Foundation
The Society of Scribes and Illuminators
Category:Calligraphy
Category:Illumination
In 1899, Edward Johnston was encouraged to start a class at the Central School of Arts and Crafts by WR Lethaby. His subject was to be ‘Illuminating.’ At that time the crafts of calligraphy and illumination were almost inseparable. The characteristically British tradition of presenting illuminated addresses, patents, charters and other documents had continued unabated since the Middle Ages, preserving many of the techniques of formal writing on vellum, gilding and decoration, and often incorporating heraldry. Johnston was to play a major part in the refining and invigoration of this tradition, particularly through the publication of Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering in 1906, and his impact on illumination is still apparent a century later.
Johnston would have been well aware of the Victorian enthusiasm for illuminated manuscripts of the Gothic era, reproduced and pastiched in works ranging from the antiquarian to the popular. William Morris advocated a more original approach than his contemporaries, emulating the illuminators of the past by analysis of their tools, materials and craft processes, rather than by slavish imitation. Johnston’s own early attempts at illumination are clearly inspired by the work of Morris, in which scrolling plants and flowers encapsulate the text, and he wrote: ‘Morris, who was a writer and illuminator before he was a painter, has shown us how beautiful modern illuminated writing can be and how in every case the method is to be sought in the old work and inspiration is to be found in nature’.1
In Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering, Johnston treats the former two subjects together in the first half of the book. He describes the application of decoration to simple lettering, progressing from coloured initials and pen-made patterns to raised gilding and more elaborate initials and borders. Three different types of illumination are distinguished: Barbaric, or geometric and abstract patterns, inspired by Romanesque and Renaissance work, Filigree or pen-made scrollwork, decorated with tiny gold leaves, and Natural or Limners’ work, using plant and animal designs inspired by nature. Like Morris he cautions against imitating medieval designs: …‘our own work is only honest when made in our own humour, time, and place…I have little doubt that an excellent modern style of illumination is quite feasible, in which the greatest possible richness of colour effect is achieved with extreme simplicity of form’.2 Johnston gives methodical and practical advice on mixing gesso and applying gold leaf, much of it still relevant today, and even includes a troubleshooting guide for diagnosing why the gold won’t stick! Whilst the body of his text focuses on the decoration of manuscriptbooks, he also gives an appendix covering illuminated addresses, with guidance for their wording, layout, decoration and the order of work.
An additional appendix, ‘On Gilding’, was supplied by Johnston’s pupil and associate Graily Hewitt. Hewitt was largely responsible for reformulating the recipe for gesso (which he calls ‘the asiso’), based on the fifteenth-century writings of Cennino Cennini. Highly skilled in gilding, he devised a style of illumination based upon Italian Renaissance ‘white vine,’ in which the initials are surrounded by a dense pattern of outlined flowers and foliage, set against richly coloured backgrounds. Among his followers were Ida Henstock, Madelyn Walker and Dorothy Hutton. Of Johnston’s own pupils, Louise Powell was significant as an illuminator, completing some of Morris’s manuscriptbooks and working in the Arts and Crafts idiom well into the mid-twentieth century. The conservative craft of illumination remained almost untouched by trends in contemporary art until comparatively recently.
The Society of Scribes and Illuminators was founded by Graily Hewitt and other pupils of Johnston in 1921 and working groups were formed to investigate subjects such as gilding, the use of vellum, and heraldry in illuminated manuscripts. The Society continues to provide a forum for the exchange of technical information and the sharing of members’ work. Among present-day practitioners, Sam Somerville has made a particular contribution to the investigation of the technical aspects of gilding.
In 1931, an exhibition was mounted by the SSI, ‘Three Centuries of Illuminated Addresses, Diplomas and Honorary Freedom Scrolls’. As a result of two World Wars, many memorial books and rolls of honour were also written out and illuminated by distinguished scribes. The Royal Air Force Book of Remembrance at St Clement Danes in London (1962–4) runs to eleven volumes and was worked on by a total of thirteen scribes, directed by Alfred Fairbank. Another pupil of Johnston, Irene Wellington, carried out the Wykehamist Roll of Honour for Winchester College in 1948. Its title page cleverly draws upon the style and techniques of the Anglo-Saxon Winchester school of illumination, characteristically tempered with an almost light-hearted originality.3
In the generation which followed, comprising many of the senior scribes and illuminators of today, calligraphy developed as an art form in its own right, less utilitarian, and often independent of any decoration at all. On the other hand, the techniques of illumination have been used to create images unrelated to traditional initials and borders. For example, in the highly personal work of Ann Hechle4, a pupil of Irene Wellington, gilded and painted geometric motifs are often scattered amongst the complex layers of textual imagery.
Her fellow pupil, Donald Jackson, has become pre-eminent in the world of illumination today, combining a respect for the techniques and materials of the past with an experimental and painterly approach. The St John’s Bible has returned illumination to its medieval roots in the decoration of sacred texts but, in line with Johnston’s precepts, it is no pastiche and the words are the starting point for the decoration.5 The illuminations also follow the Johnstonian progression from coloured initials to patterned borders and figurative illustrations. Donald Jackson’s techniques combine traditional craft skills with cutting-edge technology. The page layouts, pictorial images and patterns are often designed using a computer but the work is executed on calfskin vellum, using quills, gesso and powdered gold and an eclectic mix of inks, paints and pigments. With a confidence and freedom not normally associated with the work of an illuminator, Donald Jackson applies layers of paint and gesso with a brush or roller then adds further detail with quills, fine brushes or rubber stamps. He has assembled a team of craftsmen to work with him on the Bible, among whom are illuminators Sally Mae Joseph, Hazel Dolby and from the USA, Thomas Ingmire and Suzanne Moore.The decoration of conventional texts can vary enormously. Sheila Waters’s manuscriptof Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’ (completed 1978), combines elements of Celtic illumination with folk art, its intricate patterns and colouring appropriate to the language of the play.6 Marie Angel’s ‘The Caterpillar’ (1979) illuminates a text by Christina Rossetti, contrasting plain Roman capitals with plants and insects painted in a highly naturalistic miniaturist’s technique.7 The traditional work of the illuminator continues apace in presentation scrolls and ceremonial books. Joan Pilsbury, a pupil of Irene Wellington, has distinguished herself in this field, combining consistent writing with rich heraldry and subtle floral decorations in opaque colours, combining to create a calmly balanced effect on the page. An example is the Royal National Lifeboat Institute Memorial Book (completed 1974), produced in collaboration with Wendy Westover, Heather Child,Wendy Gould and Margaret Alexander.8 Joan Pilsbury has also made an inventive contribution to the illumination of Letters Patent for the Crown Office over many years.9
The initial ‘E’ for Elizabeth II is traditionally executed in raised gold and the decoration incorporates the shield and other portions of the Royal Arms. Donald Jackson uses these elements very differently, adding vigorous quill-made flourishes around the initial to give a contemporary feel. Anthony Wood, by contrast, works in a medieval-inspired heraldic idiom, and must be acknowledged for imparting the traditional skills of calligraphy, heraldry and illumination at Reigate School of Art between 1965 and 1987.10 At the College of Arms there has traditionally been a division of work between the heraldic artist and the scrivener, which in my own work I have endeavoured to reconcile in order to give a visual unity to Letters Patent granting Arms.11 As Denis Brown has shown, it is possible to give an exciting modern flavour to a documentusing the traditional elements of text, initial and illumination. In The Founding of Trinity College, Dublin (2002), he contrasts a boldly coloured and gilded heading with intricate italic flourishes, incorporating medieval and Celtic features into his personal style.12
The rich tradition of illuminating covers a wide spectrum of styles and techniques and features in the work of many calligraphers who it has not been possible to mention here. Following Edward Johnston’s advice and example, its greatest practitioners have used traditional skills and ideas from the past to shape their own work, reinventing it and making it relevant for their own times. The constraints of a commission within a prescribed format may be regarded as a challenge rather than a straightjacket. As Johnston wrote a century ago: ‘There is a fairly steady demand for Illuminated Addresses; but the independent craftsman would have to establish himself by useful practice, and by seizing opportunities, and by doing his work well’.13
Footnotes
1 Quoted by Donald Jackson in More Than Fine Writing, pp. 30-1
2 Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering, pp.196-7
3 Illustrated in More Than Fine Writing, p.98
4 p.80
5 pp.35/9
6 Commissioned by Edward Homby, illustrated in Painting for Calligraphers, p.34
7 V and A Collection, illustrated in Painting for Calligraphers, p.37
8 Illustrated here and in Painting for Calligraphers, p.99
9 p62
10 The course continued to run in an amended form until its regretful closure in 2006.
11 p47
12 p34
13 Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering, p.xxi
Bibliography
Marie Angel Painting for Calligraphers London, 1984
Christopher Calderhead Illuminating the Word; the Making of the Saint John’s Bible Collegeville, 2005
H.Child, H.Collins, A.Hechle & D.Jackson More Than Fine Writing; Irene Wellington: Calligrapher (1904-1984) London, 1986
Heather Child Calligraphy Today; Twentieth Century Tradition & Practice London, 1988
Edward Johnston Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering London, 1929 (sixteenth edition)
Joyce Irene Whalley The Art of Calligraphy; Western Europe and America London, 1980
External Links
The Edward Johnston Foundation
The Society of Scribes and Illuminators