The Revolution of the Alphabet (2009)

The Revolution of the Alphabet (2009)
Renzo Rossi
H215 x W165 mm. 32 pages. Acquired from 28 August 2022.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

The invention of writing and subsequently the alphabet is a fascinating subject. With every archaeological discovery and paleographic insight, clarity and nuance and mystery increase. Sympathies to the children’s book authors and publishers who attempt to capture and hold their readers’ attention and do them and the domain justice.

Part of a series first appearing in Italian with Andrea Dué (Florence) in 2003, The Revolution of the Alphabet is a school library book aimed at ages 8 and up. It is the sort of illustrated reference book meant for browsing and supplementary reading. The mix of pen-and-ink drawings, watercolors, bold reproductions of scripts and letters and high-res color photographs of such items as the Phaistos disk and the ceramic Viterbo rooster encourages the browsing. It also subliminally delivers a message of the deep and live connection between the alphabet and art.

As can be gathered from the table of contents and text on these pages, the constraint of 32 pages for content that isn’t scattershot and jam-packed at the same time presents a challenge.

The Revolution of the Alphabet (2009)

Toward an alphabet
A Phoenician language
Hebrew writing
A Greek contribution
Poets and philosophers
The greatest library
An Etruscan mystery
The Latin alphabet
Tools for writing
Letters of the prophet
Fantastic forms
In India

Adding the other three volumes’ 96 pages does not overcome the challenge. Taken together, the disparate stories — that writing was a gift from the gods, that writing evolved from numbers and accounting, that only some writing systems generated alphabets, that alphabets changed with the tools and materials to hand — offer an entertaining montage of snippets that could lead a curious mind to be more curious.

A Gift from the Gods (2009)

A secret writing
How hieroglyphs work
Everyday writing
Papyrus
The power of writing
In the Far East: China
Calligraphy
Chinese masters of writing
From China to Japan
Creating a Korean alphabet
In the land of the Maya
All bark

How Writing Began (2009)

The unwritten word
First numbers, then words
Taking count
Drawing words
Writing in Sumeria
A better way to write
One sign, many meanings
The job of writing
Books made of clay
Writing grows up
Cuneiform conquers the Near East
A wedge-shaped alphabet

The Age of the Book (2009)

Books for the few
Among the Slavic peoples
Parchment
Irish monasteries
The writing of Charlemagne
For the glory of God
In the shadow of the cathedrals
The paper revolution
Printing at last
But the Chinese were first
Characters and printers
A book for all

Further Reading

“Abecedaries I (in progress)“. Books On Books Collection.

“Lyn Davies“. 7 August 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Timothy Donaldson“. 1 February 2023. Books On Books Collection.

“Cari Ferraro“. 1 February 2023. Books On Books Collection.

“David J. Goldman“. Books On Books Collection. [In progress]

“Rudyard Kipling and Chloë Cheese“. 15 February 2023. Books On Books Collection.

“Abe Kuipers“. 15 February 2023. Books On Books Collection.

“Don Robb and Anne Smith“. 26 March 2023. Books On Books Collection.

“James Rumford. 21 November 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Tiphaine Samoyault“. 10 July 2023. Books On Books Collection.

“Ben Shahn“. 20 July 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Tommy Thompson“. 21 August 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Ada Yardeni“. 10 July 2023. Books On Books Collection.

Bernal, Martin. 1990. Cadmean Letters : The Transmission of the Alphabet to the Aegean and Further West Before 1400 B.C. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.

Diringer, David, and Reinhold Regensburger. 1968. The alphabet: a key to the history of mankind. London: Hutchinson. A standard, beginning to be challenged by late 20th and early 21st century archaeological findings and palaeographical studies.

Drucker, Johanna. 1999. The alphabetic labyrinth: the letters in history and imagination. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson.

Ege, Otto. 1921/1998. The Story of the Alphabet, Its Evolution and Development… Embellished Typographically with Printer’s Flowers Arranged by Richard J. Hoffman. Van Nuys, CA: Richard J. Hoffman. A miniature. The type ornaments chosen by Hoffman are arranged chronologically by designer (Garamond, Granjon, Rogers) and printed in color.

Firmage, Richard A. 2001. The alphabet. London: Bloomsbury.

Fischer, Steven Roger. 2008. A history of writing. London: Reaktion Books.

Jackson, Donald. 1997. The story of writing. Monmouth, England: Calligraphy Centre.

Moziani, Eliyahu. 1984. Torah of the Alphabet or How the Art of Writing Was Taught Under the Judges of Israel (1441-1025) : -The Original Short Course in Alphabetic Writing Conceived by Israel in Sinai. Herborn: Baalschem.

Pflughaupt, Laurent. 2008. Letter by letter: an alphabetical miscellany. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Robb, Don, and Anne Smith. 2010. Ox, house, stick: the history of our alphabet. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. Children’s book.

Robinson, Andrew. 1995. The story of writing. London: Thames and Hudson.

Rosen, Michael. 2014. Alphabetical: how every letter tells a story. London: John Murray.

Sacks, David. 2003. Language visible unraveling the mystery of the alphabet from A to Z. New York: Broadway Books.

Shaw, Gary. 15 April 2021. “Ancient ABCs: The alphabet’s ‘missing link’ discovered in Israel“. The Art Newspaper.