I found this great book the other day, Scripts: Elegant Lettering from Design’s Golden Age by Steven Heller and Louise Fili. This is a must have for anyone with an interest in calligraphy, script writing or fonts. It is amazing to see the craftsman ship from these artists. It puts much of modern design to shame when you can sell how elegantly these designers created art with brush and pen.
Now, don’t get me wrong, it isn’t all that depressing, when comparing it to modern design and fonts. I personally find their work inspiring and I think if you check out Scripts you will too.