La operina di Ludouico Vicentino, da imparare di scriuere littera cancellarescha
The first printed writing manual, Ludovico degli Arrighi's copybook of chancery cursive (littera cancellaresca), issued in 1524 under a Rome imprint and cut in woodblocks after his own pen, made to teach scribes and secretaries the papal chancery hand. The plates give full alphabets, letter-joining exercises, abbreviations for titles like Illustrissimo, and display lines whose ascenders and descenders swing into long flourishes \u2014 usable as calligraphic alphabets, swash capitals, and pen-drawn rules.
