"The stroke is the most concise and powerful statement of Gerrit Noordzij's theory of writing. First published in Dutch in 1985, it appears here for the first time in English. The book puts forward a genuine theory of all writing, done with any kind of generating tool. Noordzij starts with fundamentals - the space within and between letters - and proceeds in stages towards a full account of how the strokes of writing can be formed, and an analysis of the qualities of letters. Along the way, there are reflections on history and culture, and remarks on method. Noordzij's theory serves to repair the split that grew up, with the invention of printing, between written and typographic letters. He shows us the underlying 'written' quality of all letters, with whatever technology they have been formed. Just by virtue of its strong theory, The stroke has practical consequences that transcend any simple 'how to do it' approach"--Jacket.