Do you indulge in vibration, location and fashion? What has Aldus Manutius got to do with Ugaritic-P? How does a prisoner tapping on a pipe connect to an LCD display? Exactly how long did minuscules take to develop? What was happening to letters in Northern Europe while the abjad of Arabia was developing? What have two curves and a straight line got in common with a voiced bilabial plosive? How do all of the above relate to the colour purple? Is the world becoming ligature-resistant? What is the mighty Schwa?
At a time when it seems everyone is getting all hot and bothered about the rise of the image, Timothy Donaldson will talk about his reasons for research into the history and development of the Latin alphabet and why he decided to make an illustrated book, Shapes for sounds (cowhouse), about its past, present and future. He will even attempt to answer some of the questions posed above.
