What Do I Need to Start Calligraphy?

You need less than you might think.

A pen, some ink, and a smooth pad of paper are enough to begin properly. Everything else, including the many attractive extras that come with calligraphy, can be added slowly, once you know which direction your interest is taking you.

The most useful thing to remember at the start is that calligraphy is learnt over time. Buying a great deal of equipment before your first stroke will not shorten that time. Beginning with the basics will.

The Essentials

There are four things you need to start.

A pen
The choice here is usually between a fountain pen and a dip pen. A fountain pen is portable and ready to use straight from the box. A dip pen has a holder and a nib, dipped into a bottle of ink as you write. Both are good ways to begin, and we've written a fuller comparison in What's the Difference Between a Dip Pen and a Fountain Pen?. In short: fountain pens suit casual, everyday practice; dip pens are the traditional route and open up more possibilities as you progress.

A nib
If you're using a dip pen, you'll need one or two nibs. Different scripts use different kinds of nib. Broad-edge nibs are used for traditional styles such as Italic and Foundational Hand. Pointed nibs are used for Copperplate, Spencerian, and Modern Calligraphy. You need to decide what style you're interested in before you buy. 
A beginner-friendly nib such as the Nikko G, for pointed pen, or a William Mitchell Round Hand nib, for broad-edge, will take you a long way.

Ink
Any well-flowing non-waterproof calligraphy ink will do to begin with. For practice, an inexpensive bottle of traditional black ink is entirely sufficient. There's no need to invest in pigmented or waterproof inks until you begin working on finished pieces. For a fuller look at the choices, see What Kind of Ink Is Best for Calligraphy?"

Paper
Ordinary printer paper will let you begin, but it will feather and bleed with most calligraphy inks, and it's difficult to develop clean letterforms on a surface that's fighting you. A pad of smooth calligraphy paper, or a good layout pad, makes an immediate difference.

Everything Else Is Optional

Oblique holders, specialist inks, quality papers, workbooks, nib tins, pallets and pen rests. All have their place but are not essential at the start.
The temptation with a new interest is to buy your way into competence. Calligraphy doesn't reward that. It rewards short, regular practice with a few good tools.

A Beginner's Kit

If you'd rather not build a starter set piece by piece, a good calligraphy starter set gathers everything you need in one place, chosen to work together. That saves the guesswork about which nib suits which ink, or which holder fits which nib, and it lets you begin without stopping to think.

For most beginners, a starter kit is the simplest way to get going.

How Much Time Do You Need?

Fifteen or twenty minutes of practice, three or four times a week, is more useful than a two-hour session on a Sunday afternoon. Calligraphy improves through steady repetition rather than long stretches, and small daily habits build up quickly.

A Good Place to Start

Decide whether you're drawn to traditional broad-edge scripts or the pointed pen styles used in modern calligraphy and Copperplate. Choose a nib and pen holder suited to that style, one or two nibs, a bottle of black ink, and a pad of smooth paper. That's genuinely all you need.

From there, the rest of calligraphy is time and practice.