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Over the years I have amassed quite a few books on Sofrut, but as one would expect the majority of the halachic texts have not been translated from the Hebrew. Below are a few of the useful sources I have gathered together, the Hebrew ones are at the bottom for the more adventurous amongst you.
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Sofer - The Story of a Torah Scroll
Dr. Eric Ray, Torah Aura Productions, 1986.
Theoretically for children but good basic starter info for adults too! This book has marvelous pictures showing Eric Ray z”l, an American sofer at work at all the different stages, the materials used and a typical day for the scribe. It also shows all of the letter forms and gives a story for each of them. Eric was very fond of stories and makes good use of them.
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The 613th Commandment
J. Simcha Cohen, Jason Aronson Inc. 1983.
An analysis of the mitsvah to write a Sefer Torah. This is an obligation on every Jew and a king has to write two! However very few Jews ever get to participate in this mitsvah though through completing one letter it is accounted as if you wrote the whole thing - hence the festivities around a siyyum.
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This is Torah
Alfred J. Kolatch, Jonathon David Publishers Inc. 1988.
A magnificent reference work which covers more than just sofrut. However it does include fantastic sections on writing the Torah and the Massoretic text with very comprehensive notes and references at the back.
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Tefillin an illustrated guide
Moshe Neiman Feldheim Publishers, 1995.
How they are made, what they contain, how they are worn and all the pertinent laws. Includes excellent diagrams of the structure of the tefillin and descriptions of how they are put together.
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Tefillin
Aryeh Kaplan
NCSY/Orthodox Union, 1975. Thought provoking analysis of the mistvah together with descriptions of how they are made and worn. A short and well-written introduction to the subject, though not as detailed as the book shown immediately above. This volume is also available in a anthology of Kaplan’s other work - all fascinating studies from a man who died tragically young.
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The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet
Rabbi Michael L. Munk, Artscroll, 1983.
The sacred letters as a guide to Jewish deed and thought. Meanings of the letters. Mostly a midrashic guide to the letters but some of the reasons scribal idiosyncrasies are explored and every letter draws a lesson from part of scripture. Covers many explanations from ‘Otiot d’Rabbi Akiva’, a useful midrashic source.
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The Handbook of Hebrew Calligraphy
Cara Goldberg Marks
Jason Aronson Inc. 1990. The letter forms, modern calligraphy and a good section on k'tubot.
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Tikkun Kor'im
A tikkun for reading and writing the Torah and the megillah - a must have (though see below...)
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Mishnah B'rurah Volume I(B) - The laws of T'fillin
Chafets Chayim, Feldheim Publishers, 1992.
An English Translation of the Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah B'rurah with facing Hebrew. Also includes Mishnat Sofrim on the formation of the letters. Really the only English halachic guide except for the Soncino minor tractates (see below). Another must have!
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Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Tefillin u’Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah. Hilchot Tzitzit.
Maimonides (translated and with commentaries and notes by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger), Moznaim Publishing Corporation, Jerusalem 1990. Excellent companion to the work above giving the Rambam’s opinion of the halacha as he understood it in clear Hebrew and English. A good commentary with some diagrams and good cross references to other works. Also in the series Mishneh Torah on Hilchot Gittin.
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Torah Shelemah - Leviticus Volume 29
Kasher, M M & Razhabi Yitshak, American Biblical Encyclodia Society Inc., Jerusalem 1978
Part 1 deals with whether the Torah was given in Ktav Ivri or Ktav Ashurit and the development of Hebrew script. Part 2 is a comprehensive coverage of the scribal idiosyncracies, such as the nun hafucha or the various individual taggin as decribed in works such as Sefer Taggin, Machzor Vitri etc. It is detailed and has many pages with examples of the texts form ancient times and the different traditions for writing the taggin.
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Some more modern English publications include:
Hilchot Tefillin:Zichron Avraham David (The Sudent Edition of Halachos of Tefillin, Eider S., Feldheim 1985.
The marvellous and business like Tefillin and Mezuzos: A Pictorial Guide by Yerachmiel Askotsky (Targum 2003) showing how to choose, maintain and understand your STaM
Sefer Zichron Shoshana: Mezuzah a Comprehensive Guide, HoffmanY Israel Bookshop 2002 which gives a deep insight into this mitsvah and covers element of sofrut and a fantastic section on the types of klaf.
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