The Book of Hebrew Script: History, Paleaography, Script Styles, Calligraphy & Design

by Ada Yardeni

The Book of Hebrew Script signifies a new phase in the study of the Hebrew letters. In addition to a comprehensive historical survey of the evolution of the Hebrew script and its various styles, the author presents the basic rules of Hebrew palaeography, and a method for analyzing letter-forms, as well as instructions for Hebrew calligraphy and the design of Hebrew letters, inscriptions and typefaces. This book is the perfect manual and source of information for scholars and laymen alike.

Genres: History

364 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2002

Reviews

[Smitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ada Yardeni is clearly an artist, not a historian. The first half of the book details the development of the Hebrew language in its written form from the dawn of writing through the 20th century. While often fascinating and revelatory, it is in this area that she is most out of her element. The history is alternately simplistic and obtuse, is frequently repetitive, and is poorly organized. Additionally, for a book published in the 1990s by an artist, the book design is particularly subpar, with diagrams and illustrations instead of photos, poor print quality, and even poorer citation. It's difficult to match figures with dates and get a full understanding of the sequence of events without rereading the book twice. The second half of the book focuses on drawing Hebrew letters and calligraphy. That's what she's best at, but it makes me wonder if she wouldn't have been better off producing two separate books, as the two halves don't fit together so well.