Letters of light : Arabic script in calligraphy, print, and digital design / J.R. Osborn.
Material type: TextPublisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2017Copyright date: �2017Description: ix, 268 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780674971127
- 0674971124
- 492.7/1109 23
- PJ6123 .O83 2017
Current library | Call number | Vol info | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center Library STACKS | PJ6123 .O83 2017 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | V. | Copy 1 | Available | 197013032 | ||
Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center Library STACKS | PJ6123 .O83 2017 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | V. | Copy 2 | Available | 197013007 |
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PJ6111 .L844 2013 al-Lughah al-ʻArabīyah. | PJ6111 .L8443 2013 al-Lughah al-ʻArabīyah : al-Ithānī ʻashr. | PJ6121.35 .A37 1999 Kitāb al-Taqwīm fī al-imlāʼ wa-al-nuṭq al-Salīm / | PJ6123 .O83 2017 Letters of light : Arabic script in calligraphy, print, and digital design / | PJ6123 .O83 2017 Letters of light : Arabic script in calligraphy, print, and digital design / | PJ6127 .A43 2013 Hamzah bi-lā akhṭāʼ / | PJ6131 .K432 2019 Mubtadaʼ l-Kashf fī ʻilm al-ṣarf / |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
The layers of proportional naskh -- Ottoman script designs -- European printing and Arabic -- Print in Ottoman lands -- Questions of script reform -- Arabic script on computers.
Arabic script remains one of the most widely employed writing systems in the world, for Arabic and non-Arabic languages alike. Focusing on naskh, the style most commonly used across the Middle East, Letters of Light traces the evolution of Arabic script from its earliest inscriptions to digital fonts, from calligraphy to print and beyond. J.R. Osborn narrates this storied past for historians of the Islamic and Arab worlds, for students of communication and technology, and for contemporary practitioners. The partnership of reed pen and paper during the tenth century inaugurated a golden age of Arabic writing; the shape and proportions of classical calligraphy known as al-khatt al-mansub were formalized, and variations emerged to suit different types of content. The rise of movable type quickly led to European experiments in printing Arabic texts. Ottoman Turkish printers, more sensitive than their European counterparts to the script's nuances, adopted movable type more cautiously. Debates about "reforming" Arabic script for print technology persisted into the twentieth century. Arabic script continues to evolve in the digital age. Programmers have adapted it to the international Unicode standard, greatly facilitating Arabic presence online and in word processing. Tech companies are investing resources to facilitate support of Arabic in their products. Professional designers are bringing about a renaissance in the Arabic script community as they reinterpret classical aesthetics and push new boundaries in digital form.-- Provided by publisher.