It must not be expected that in a short treatise of this kind we can cover the whole field of paleography, but our few notes on the subject may indicate to some readers a line of study that will repay anyone who undertakes it. The easiest method is to examine manuscripts of Bible text, where the subject matter is pretty well known, and, following the different styles of writing, acquaint oneself with the development of writing in different centuries and in different countries. A valuable handbook giving facsimiles of many Bible pages is “Bible Illustrations,” published by Henry Frowde, New York—it costs but $1.
SUMMARY OF METHOD OF INSTRUCTION GIVEN — PRELIMINARY “PLACING” OF LINES IN A SKETCH — THE RELATION OF A SILHOUETTE TO AN OUTLINE — DRAWING IN OUTLINE, IN SILHOUETTE, WITH PARTIAL SHADING AND WITH FULL SHADING — CUTS GIVEN OF VARIOUS STYLES OF BOOK DECORATIONS — ANALYSIS OF THESE STYLES.
Now for our summary. My method of teaching in this series has been one of suggestion, and very often I have seemingly gone off at a tangent, to hint at an application of some rule; in so doing perhaps the chapters seem to lack continuity, but I think several readings of them will show that there has been a logical development throughout. Perhaps the following summary will bring various parts together and fix all in the memory.
First, the student is advised to practice drawing from objects, and to learn to get something on the paper as soon as possible, and then by further labor to develop this something. There should be at first, lines and markings showing _about_ where the different parts of an object should come. In the Lautrec drawing the lines are not meant for a bicycle or the calves of a man’s legs, but the lines represent about where the bicycle and the man’s calves should come. Anything that can be seen may be “placed” in this way—a tree, a house, a cloud. After the student has learned to “place”■
{ 212} [Illustration: ZIMMERMAN AND HIS MACHINE.
After a lithograph by H. de T. Lautrec, from the _Revue Franco-Americaine_.
This is given as an example of rapid manner in placing a figure. In sketching a figure it is advisable always to draw the whole figure at once, and never finish the head first and then go to the hand. In a few lines, a correct draftsman may indicate a great deal. It is also given as an example of a reproduction from a crayon drawing. This is actually reproduced from a print, but the artist originally drew on a stone with crayon, and crayon on paper will reproduce by photo-engraving as well as this. Lithograph crayon may be used, or an ordinary hard crayon (the softer the better), or Hardtmuth’s crayon pencils. Charcoal paper may be used, or any of the special crayon papers. The more grain on the paper, the better.]