The covers for this range are portfolio pages taken from the Model Book of Calligraphy, a Renaissance manuscript created by Georg Bocskay, a Croatian scribe, in 1561 and later illuminated by Joris Hoefnagel, a Flemish painter, at the beginning of the Baroque period in the 1590s. Originally commissioned for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (who Bocskay was Court Secretary to) it was originally intended as a demonstration of masterful penmanship, showcasing a wide range of scripts and letterforms. Bocskay emphasised technical brilliance in writing, while Hoefnagel’s additions, commissioned by Ferdinand’s grandson Emperor Rudolph II, brought vivid decoration through naturalistic illustrations of plants, animals, and insects. The illustrations are totally unrelated to the text, but together the work perfectly merges technical artistry with visual ornamentation, resulting in a beautiful union of calligraphic learning and natural observation. The portfolio, like too many of the world’s great art treasures, is locked away in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, last exhibited in 2018. Our Note book selection is a modest personal attempt to make these wonderful designs better known.