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Spring 2022 – John Howard Benson – The art of Calligraphy

As part of the information on the works of the faculty artist John Howard Benson,  a small display of the art of calligraphy was set up. Benson was an American artist, calligrapher, sculptor, author  and designer of incised letters. One of his many talents was specializing in hand lettering known as calligraphy. For this he was cited as a resound authority.   On display are the tools of the craft and some rudimentary examples of the process in a pictorial book of directions. The  Portsmouth Abbey libraries have the two books authored by Mr. Benson on calligraphy, one of his woodcuts and a small biography. He is also the subject of a book written by  John Everett Benson, Christopher Benson, Christopher Stinehour, entitled The letter cutter. It was published in 2018 (Santa Fe, Fischer Press, 295  pages). There are no more copies from the publisher and none available on multiple rare book sites. If anyone knows of a copy for us to purchase for the collection please contact  library@portsmouthabbey,org.