Creating illuminated letters may be challenging, but with patience and practice it is an extremely rewarding pastime. The introductory chapters look at the development of illumination and provide full details on the equipment and materials needed, as well as looking in detail at some of the basic techniques. The book features a range of projects, varying in difficulty, with fully illustrated instructions to the different techniques together with some inspirational examples.

Projects covered include Celtic lettering and illumination with examples taken from such manuscripts as the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels; Carolingian letters based on the illumination in the beautiful Winchester Bible; richly detailed Gothic decoration; Music books and song sheets; developing letters into Illuminated Borders; Renaissance illumination styles; and Modern uses of illumination. This is an excellent introduction to the fascinating art of illuminated lettering.

Published in 2001.
Price £11.99.
Fully illustrated in colour throughout.
(D&S Books, hardback, 128pp, size 286mm x 236mm, ISBN 1-903327-15-6)

Each chapter looks at a particular lettering style, and explains how to construct the letters before moving on to a variety of different projects to help you practice and master each technique. The introductory chapters look at the history and development of writing tools and forms, and provide full details on the equipment and materials you will need to complete the projects.

Written by an expert in the field, and featuring a wide variety of projects from bookmarks to family trees, recipe books, calendars, menus and placecards, certificates, posters and greetings cards, this book will prove an inspiring introduction for the novice, as well as providing fresh ideas for the more experienced calligrapher.

Published in October 2000.
Price £11.99.
Fully illustrated in colour throughout.
(D&S Books, hardback, 128pp, size 286mm x 236mm, ISBN 1-903327-14-8)

Family Trees
A Manual for their Design Layout & Display

The family historian has had a gap in the bookshelf that has been awaiting this book for many years. It provides the first ever detailed guide to the alternative ways to lay out and draw up a genealogical chart, following on to the production of a finished document for display on the wall or in a book. A family tree chart can be purely functional, to convey its information in a clear and easily accessible manner, or it can be a highly decorative, carefully written and illustrated piece of artwork. The author draws on many years of experience of designing and drawing up such charts for a wide range of clients to furnish the family historian with a full range of options and methods in this very practical do-it-yourself manual.

Copious illustrations take the reader through each process in easy-to-follow stages. Solutions are given to such problems as multiple marriages, natural children, intermarriage, doubtful information and so on. Designs that ensure good proportions and clarity are described, including left-to-right layouts, circular or semi-circular designs, tree shaped charts, boxed frameworks and direct lines of descent.

Attractive, long-lasting charts require good paper and writing materials. The best choices are discussed, together with different styles of lettering. For those wanting a really eye-catching chart a section is devoted to decorative titles, borders and illustrations. Coats of arms are the traditional accompaniment to pedigrees and the subject of heraldry is covered in detail. The author also describes ways of expanding the pedigree information in book form, with illustrations, giving details of simple home-binding methods. Finally, she covers techniques of archival storage or of display of a chart in a frame or on rollers.

No aspect of pedigree preparation is neglected in this remarkable and long-needed account. Price £17.99. 172 illustrations in colour and black & white. (Published by Phillimore 2010, limp binding, 102pp, size 274mm x 206mm, ISBN 978-1-86077-596-3)