"A central theme in the author's account of this story is the vital link between the materials used for writing and the way writing developed. Over and over again he shows how the shape of particular alphabets grew out of the controlling material or tool - the clay tablets of Sumerians, the papyrus and reed pen of the Egyptians, the stone-carving of the Romans - and how these almost haphazard circumstances became turning points in the story of writing up to our own times. By actually using these materials we can ourselves physically feel the history of writing with our own hands; and precise and accurate instructions are given throughout the book, illustrated with step-by-step drawings, on such processes as making papyrus, cutting a reed pen, curing and using quills, and making illuminated letters in the medieval style."--Book jacket flap.