The art of making beautiful and elegant handwriting is called
Calligraphy which requires skilled penmanship.

The literal meaning of the word calligraphy is beautiful
writing. Books were written in calligraphy up until the
invention of printing machines. Using quill and ink the
handwriting was written onto materials like parchment or
vellum. There are three main styles of calligraphy which are
prevailing now. Arabic, Chinese – known as oriental style and
Western or Roman are most popular modern calligraphy styles.

The range of calligraphy includes simple hand lettering to fine
art pieces where the expression of the handwritten mark may take
precedence over the legibility of the letters. Typography should
not be confused with calligraphy.

Wedding and event invitations, maps and other works involving
writing, use modern calligraphy. Today's calligraphy has little
to do with the artistic discipline of each character. It is
simply good penmanship that attracts attention and has a
distinct style of its own. This type of calligraphy is referred
to as “modern calligraphy” or “New York Calligraphy “, created
by the New York calligrapher Anne Robin.

Latin calligraphy or the writing system along with Greek and
Cyrillic writing system is known as Western Calligraphy. Early
alphabets had evolved by about 3000 BC. Long, heavy rolls of
papyrus were replaced by the Romans with the first books,
initially by simple folded pages of parchment made from animal
skins. In the beginning reed pens were used for calligraphy
which was subsequently replaced by quill pens.

Prolific copying of the Bible, particularly the New Testament
and other sacred texts gave a boost to the development of
Calligraphy. Monks in Ireland and Scotland used Uncial letters
in their calligraphy which is also known as Insular Style of
Calligraphy. Illuminated manuscript was considered the zenith
of western calligraphy in Northern Europe during 7th to 9th
Century.

Alcuin, the Abbot of York undertook a major revision of all
styles of script and all texts to spread the art of beautiful
writing. He also developed a new style called “Carolingian
Minuscule" style named after his patron in Charlemagne.
12th Century saw the growth of Blackletter also known as Gothic
script. After the invention of printing by Gutenberg in the 15th
century, hand-written and hand-decorated books become less
common.

Using a sharp pointed nib instead of the flat nib a new style
called copperplate was invented in 15th Century. It resembles
the etchings of engraved copper hence the name copperplate.
Balliol College, Bodleian Library, Corpus Christi College,
Jesus College, Magdalene College and St John’s College of
Oxford University, converted major works considered as
treasures in calligraphy, in digital format to preserve them
over a longer period.

Find more information at http://www.calligraphyart.info