Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere

manual by Palatino

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 30, 2026

Quick Summary

The Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere (New Book for Learning to Write) is a significant manual on calligraphy published in Rome in 1540 by Giovanni Battista Palatino. This work, along with those by Arrighi and Tagliente, was highly influential in the first half of the 16th century for teaching cancelleresca, a style of cursive script that evolved into italic type. Palatino's manual provided instruction on letter formation, spacing, and joining, contributing to the spread of this elegant writing style across Europe.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

4 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

calligraphy
Writing manuals and copybooks (16th to 18th century)
…Giovanni Battista Palatino published his Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere (“New Book for Learning to Write”), which proved to be, along with the manuals of Arrighi and Tagliente, one of the most influential books on writing cancelleresca issued in the first half of the 16th century. These three authors were…
Read More
…Giovanni Battista Palatino published his Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere (“New Book for Learning to Write”), which proved to be, along with the manuals of Arrighi and Tagliente, one of the most influential books on writing cancelleresca issued in the first half of the 16th century. These three authors were…
Read More