Looking for a Python sparkline library, I found Perry Geo's excellent code. "In the minimalist spirit of sparklines, the interface was kept simple":

import spark
a = [32.5,35.2,39.9,40.8,43.9,48.2,50.5,51.9,53.1,55.9,60.7,64.4]
spark.sparkline_smooth(a).show()

That's it, and here's the result. Just download his single Python module, start up interactive Python, and off you go.

This of course sent me on a tangent, off to Edward Tufte's work and creation of sparklines. It seems I have a book or two to buy.