Art of Letter Carving in Stone

What an amazing and complete hands on book this is. Tom Perkins is not only a renoun calligrapher but also a magnificent letter carver, and this instructional book graba you by the hand and teaches you pretty much everything you need to know about this almost extint trade.

Just working on my first stone sculpture and it was suggested we peruse this book. It is so helpful for beginners to experts and the photos explaining different versions of letter forming is very informative. Really suggest this book highly!

This is a beautiful book, and absolutely full of information as well as lovely photos. The book is worth it for the pictures alone. Of course it also has pretty much everything you'll need to know in order to start carving.

Great and informative book!

Well written and informative

Good book oriented toward art lettering. Very English oriented in its types of stone used. Very limited on granite projects. Techniques,layout ,design are well covered. Granite is one of the most common stones available in the USA at reasonable cost. Perhaps a book more oriented towards stone carving would have more granite coverage.

If you want to know about both the practical and artistic aspects of carving letters in stone this is the book you want to begin with.

I've been carving a large marble dedication plaque using what I've learned in this wonderful book. Letter forms area discussed in great detail, and the techniques and order of strokes of Roman capitals are discussed. Well worth the money because it is information that is just difficult to find explained well anywhere else.Here are some images of the project that I've been able to do after reading this book:[...]

This book is exactly as I had hoped it would be and I'm sure it will prove invaluable reading before I undertake this craft. There is a chapter about tools, and another about stone. Written by an acknowledged stone carver, it gives details of the direction in which to start carving the letter, how to achieve the little flourishes at the beginning and end of the stroke - called Serifs, and details of the spacing and size of each letter with diagrams. There are examples of Roman, italic upper and lower case alphabets and a chapter on 'Designing Letter Variations'. Masses more information than I can mention here, but I am very happy with this book.

Bought for my uncle who has been stone carving for many years but always struggled with lettering. He is very happy! He's even recommending to his local stone carving association as something that should be shared with others, which is high praise I reckon.

This book is truly excellent, it's beautifully presented, written and printed, with a wealth of photographs of the work of the foremost craftsmen of today and the recent past,The Masters of this difficult craft are fully represented.The illustrations are clear and informative.Tom Perkins is utterly generous in his instruction and the sharing of his lifetime study and execution of his magnificent work.The book is a triumph of his dedication to the tradition and innovation of the carved letter.I cannot recommend it too highly.

I bought this book on the recommendation of others. After trying my hand at creating some carved pieces (faces and leaves) with Caen stone I wanted to have a go at letter carving. Many books relating to stone carving tend to be either vague or generalised. Not only does this large A4 sized book provide history and variation but it is straight forward in its approach to how to letter carve in different styles (Roman, italics et al). There are a mass of inspirational images of completed work from the hand of Perkins and others. I suppose the real problem is where to begin!To sum up: this book is a real gem, a masterclass in what is achievable when letter working in stone. A fantastic aid for both novice and expert.

Beautiful pictures and great information for the beginner and intermediate letter carver. Learn from the master. Includes lots of information about the history of letter carving in the 20th century. I will refer to this time and time again. The book is beautiful enough for the coffee table and useful enough for the work shop. Tells you what tools to use and how, Hints and tips are plentiful. Truly an inspirational work.