La Operina, The First Writing Book, was written to teach italic handwriting. Each page was printed from a separate woodcut by Ugo da Carpi, who is best known as a master of chiaroscuro engraving. The book was published around 1524.


About Arrighi:
"The author was a copyist, papal scribe, publisher and type designer. He called himself Ludovico Vicentino, and wrote the name eight times into his short text. Yet we know him as Arrighi, a name that appears nowhere in the book. La Operina shows great handwriting on every page. It is more than a set of model sheets, however. It describes Arrighi's underlying forms and two basic entry movements. It covers the spacing of lines, words and letters. It deals with slant and joins."
- John Chastain



See also:

Columbia Rare Book & Manuscript Library

A Note on Copy Books

Ours is an English translation and facsimile edition, created by John Howard Benson in 1954.