This lavishly illustrated volume takes the reader through a journey of some six centuries of development of the refined arts of calligraphy and illumination in the Islamic world. Much has been written on the dawn and early stages of the development of Arabic script and the position of calligraphy as an art form within Islamic civilization. This catalogue seeks to follow this story further into the golden age of Islamic calligraphy and its appreciation and patronage as the chief form of artistic expression from Islamic Spain to China.