Zoom in
Transcription by Esther Inglis of Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac's Quatrains, dedicated to Joseph Hall, Dean of Worcester, 1617 (MS. Bodl. 987, f. 4r)
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Zoom in
Transcription by Esther Inglis of Proverbs of Solomon, in French, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, the 2nd Earl of Essex, 1599 (MS. Bodl. 990, fols. xiv verso – xv recto)
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Esther Inglis (1571–1624)
Esther Inglis, one of the finest calligraphers of the Tudor and Stuart period, worked in both Scotland and England. The daughter of French Huguenot émigrés, she was relatively well educated and probably learned calligraphy from her mother. She seems to have produced manuscripts for both financial and religious reasons and to have presented finished articles to potential patrons, rather than working to commission. Her manuscripts were often elaborate workings of religious texts, frequently decorated with floral or animal patterns. These two examples reflect her extraordinary skill and her mastery of a range of scripts, borders and effects.