A sloping style of handwriting introduced by Aldus Manutius of Venice in c.1500, which was later introduced into printing. Today, it has a wide range of functions, including the identification of foreign words, quoted forms, book titles, emphatic utterance, and special emotional effects.
This article is about the calligraphic and handwriting style. Also see Old Italic alphabet or Italic type.History
Italic script is based largely on Humanist minuscule, which itself draws on Carolingian minuscule. In response, he created the Italic script, which incorporates features and techniques characteristic of a quickly-written hand: oblique forms, fewer strokes per character, and the joining of letters. Perhaps the most significant change to any single character was to the form of the a, which he simplified from the two-story form to the one-story form now common in most handwriting styles.
Under the influence of Italic movable type used with printing presses, the style of handwritten Italic script moved towards disjoined, more mannered characters.
The style became increasingly influenced the development of Copperplate writing styles in the eighteenth century. The style Italic script used today is often heavily influenced by developments made as late as the early 20th century. In the past few decades, the italic script has been promoted in English-speaking countries as an easier-to-learn alternative to traditional styles of cursive handwriting.
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