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Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting
Steeped in the Palmer Method of Handwriting she learned in Catholic school, Kitty Burns Florey is a self-confessed “penmanship nut” who loves the act of taking pen to paper. So when she discovered that schools today forego handwriting drills in favor of teaching something called keyboarding, it gave her pause: “There is a widespread belief that, in a digital world, forming letters on paper with a pen is pointless and obsolete,” she says, “and anyone who thinks otherwise is right up there with folks who still have fallout shelters in their backyards.”
Florey tackles the importance of writing by hand and its place in our increasingly electronic society in this fascinating exploration of the history of handwriting. Weaving together the evolution of writing implements and scripts, pen-collecting societies, the golden age of American penmanship, the growth in popularity of handwriting analysis, and the many aficionados who still prefer scribbling on paper to tapping on keys, she asks the question: Is writing by hand really no longer necessary in today’s busy world?
Florey tackles the importance of writing by hand and its place in our increasingly electronic society in this fascinating exploration of the history of handwriting. Weaving together the evolution of writing implements and scripts, pen-collecting societies, the golden age of American penmanship, the growth in popularity of handwriting analysis, and the many aficionados who still prefer scribbling on paper to tapping on keys, she asks the question: Is writing by hand really no longer necessary in today’s busy world?
190 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2008
15 people are currently reading
574 people want to read
About the author
Kitty Burns Florey
24 books15 followersKitty Burns Florey is a veteran copyeditor and the author of nine novels and many short stories and essays. Her nonfiction book, Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences, was a National Bestseller that has been called "a wistful, charming, and funny ode to a nearly lost art."
An only child born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Florey attended St. John the Baptist Academy from 1st-12th grades, and this parochial school experience would later inform her nonfiction writing. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Boston University as well as a master's degree from Syracuse University, also in English Literature.
Her most recent nonfiction book, Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting, is an exploration of the history of handwriting and a meditation on its modern function in the digital age. It will be released in paperback in September 2013.
Amy Tan called Script & Scribble "[A] book every writer would love, a curio cabinet on the art and act of writing," and The Wall Street Journal praised it as "witty and readable."
Her most recent work of fiction is The Writing Master, a historical novel set in New Haven,CT in 1856, which was inspired by her interest in handwriting history. Praise for the book includes this endorsement from Susan Cheever, author of Louisa May Alcott : "I tore through THE WRITING MASTER in one night. It's a murder mystery, a father-daughter story, and a detailed slice of 19th-century New England history -- lovely!"
Florey is working on a sequel to The Writing Master , set in Amherst, MA, where she now lives.
An only child born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Florey attended St. John the Baptist Academy from 1st-12th grades, and this parochial school experience would later inform her nonfiction writing. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Boston University as well as a master's degree from Syracuse University, also in English Literature.
Her most recent nonfiction book, Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting, is an exploration of the history of handwriting and a meditation on its modern function in the digital age. It will be released in paperback in September 2013.
Amy Tan called Script & Scribble "[A] book every writer would love, a curio cabinet on the art and act of writing," and The Wall Street Journal praised it as "witty and readable."
Her most recent work of fiction is The Writing Master, a historical novel set in New Haven,CT in 1856, which was inspired by her interest in handwriting history. Praise for the book includes this endorsement from Susan Cheever, author of Louisa May Alcott : "I tore through THE WRITING MASTER in one night. It's a murder mystery, a father-daughter story, and a detailed slice of 19th-century New England history -- lovely!"
Florey is working on a sequel to The Writing Master , set in Amherst, MA, where she now lives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
January 28, 2013
As a lifelong fancier of all things having to do with handwriting and pens, I adored this book and wished that I, too, had samples of my handwriting from childhood to the present.
Florey peppers the chapters with marginalia, including a response to her own rhetorical question about whether we should be concerned about being able to read old aunt Gertrude's illegible diary: no, because "everyone named Gertrude was thoroughly instructed in penmanship in school."
The author sent samples of her own deteriorated scribble to Kate Gladstone, who e-mailed many pages of suggestions, including a dandy idea for how to write a lower-case "k." (First a downward stroke, then a quick, upward hook, followed by a separate, graceful downstroke.) I intend to get a copy of Getty's Write Now and start working on changing my idiosyncratic little letters into something with some class!
My favorite sentence in the book comes from a discussion of graphology and its connections to ancient beliefs:
A bronchiomancer could divine the will of the gods from the pattern made by a set of llama lungs hurled against a flat rock.
How can you not love a book that includes such a sentiment?
Florey peppers the chapters with marginalia, including a response to her own rhetorical question about whether we should be concerned about being able to read old aunt Gertrude's illegible diary: no, because "everyone named Gertrude was thoroughly instructed in penmanship in school."
The author sent samples of her own deteriorated scribble to Kate Gladstone, who e-mailed many pages of suggestions, including a dandy idea for how to write a lower-case "k." (First a downward stroke, then a quick, upward hook, followed by a separate, graceful downstroke.) I intend to get a copy of Getty's Write Now and start working on changing my idiosyncratic little letters into something with some class!
My favorite sentence in the book comes from a discussion of graphology and its connections to ancient beliefs:
A bronchiomancer could divine the will of the gods from the pattern made by a set of llama lungs hurled against a flat rock.
How can you not love a book that includes such a sentiment?
Want to read
January 9, 2009You know you're really a librarian/nerd when you add a book about handwriting to your list.
November 19, 2010
If only I could remember the path that led me to this book. To someone, somewhere, I owe a debt of gratitude for the initial mention that placed Script & Scribble on my radar. Perhaps it was mentioned in a Goodreads newsletter, or on a blog; I can't remember.
Having read Script & Scribble, I am now perhaps even more irked by my poor handwriting skills—the very cocography that drove me to learn how to type at a respectable 80–90 WPM. I also have a much better understanding of just why I learned to print before learning to write cursive, and just how handwriting has changed over the years.
(As a side-effect, I gained a revulsion for Blackletter: a script so unreadable it brings to mind the squiggles of Peanuts characters—only it's supposed to be "real" writing, not the pretending of comic strip characters.)
Calligraphy was a brief part of my elementary schooling, and I've a sudden urge to dig out the fountain pen I have from those days. Not that my Uncial was ever that good—but maybe if I practice…
On top it all, Florey makes reference to many other books works that will most likely end up on my to-read shelf. When reading a book makes my to-read list longer, and not shorter, I consider it a tribute to the author—even if it means I edge that much closer to having a list that I will never finish.
The only thing I have to complain about is Chapter One, and not because of the content. I would like to have a talk with the publisher about the layout of that first chapter. Figures overlap the text, sidenote references in the text fail to match the number of the note beside them, and sometimes the text breaks in strange places to leave whitespace in odd arrangements. There's also a use of the word "happly" on page 53 that, well, just made me laugh after a double-take.
Aside from those few oddities, the book is flowingly written, beautifully laid-out, humorous, and witty. I look forward to reading Florey's best-selling Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog.
Having read Script & Scribble, I am now perhaps even more irked by my poor handwriting skills—the very cocography that drove me to learn how to type at a respectable 80–90 WPM. I also have a much better understanding of just why I learned to print before learning to write cursive, and just how handwriting has changed over the years.
(As a side-effect, I gained a revulsion for Blackletter: a script so unreadable it brings to mind the squiggles of Peanuts characters—only it's supposed to be "real" writing, not the pretending of comic strip characters.)
Calligraphy was a brief part of my elementary schooling, and I've a sudden urge to dig out the fountain pen I have from those days. Not that my Uncial was ever that good—but maybe if I practice…
On top it all, Florey makes reference to many other books works that will most likely end up on my to-read shelf. When reading a book makes my to-read list longer, and not shorter, I consider it a tribute to the author—even if it means I edge that much closer to having a list that I will never finish.
The only thing I have to complain about is Chapter One, and not because of the content. I would like to have a talk with the publisher about the layout of that first chapter. Figures overlap the text, sidenote references in the text fail to match the number of the note beside them, and sometimes the text breaks in strange places to leave whitespace in odd arrangements. There's also a use of the word "happly" on page 53 that, well, just made me laugh after a double-take.
Aside from those few oddities, the book is flowingly written, beautifully laid-out, humorous, and witty. I look forward to reading Florey's best-selling Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog.
June 24, 2020
A fun romp through the history of handwriting, and the fonts, tools, and teaching methods we’ve used through the centuries. I particularly enjoyed the focus on cursive writing from the renaissance italic font, through the round hand/copperplate of the 18th century (think Declaration of Independence), to the Spencerian lavishness of the 19th (think Coca-Cola logo), and the Palmerian straightforwardness necessary for efficient business of the 20th. This last style is essentially what most Anglophones still learn, when they are lucky enough to be taught it in school.
Many books have been devoted to medieval writing, or even the difficult Vatican script called Chancery hand and the descendant Elizabethan scripts that are brutal to read. However, it was a lot of fun to explore the copperplate to Palmerian eras of writing - not many books do this. Of course a lot has to be left out for a short book like this. It’s a book about making letter forms and how people have done so, not why they do so - again, there’s millions of books out there on topics like the why of writing letters and how they have impacted society from science to social communication. This book finds its niche and gives a good plug for the value of everyone having a good writing hand and the value of communication without having an over reliance on computer technology.
In short, this book makes you want to grab a pad of good paper and write a friend, start a journal, and improve your handwriting. If you want to write better, don’t curse, read this book and get cursive!
Many books have been devoted to medieval writing, or even the difficult Vatican script called Chancery hand and the descendant Elizabethan scripts that are brutal to read. However, it was a lot of fun to explore the copperplate to Palmerian eras of writing - not many books do this. Of course a lot has to be left out for a short book like this. It’s a book about making letter forms and how people have done so, not why they do so - again, there’s millions of books out there on topics like the why of writing letters and how they have impacted society from science to social communication. This book finds its niche and gives a good plug for the value of everyone having a good writing hand and the value of communication without having an over reliance on computer technology.
In short, this book makes you want to grab a pad of good paper and write a friend, start a journal, and improve your handwriting. If you want to write better, don’t curse, read this book and get cursive!
December 30, 2018
Basically a memoir by a woman who loves to write by hand and tells a few stories here and there about her own experience, about the American tradition (this is interesting) and about the general history of handwriting (this is insufficiently researched).
July 19, 2009
I enjoyed this book very much, and I am so sorry the publisher, Melville House Publishing (Brooklyn, NY) did not do the book justice in printing it. I like the book's shape, which is almost square, and allows the author's notes to be placed in the margins, where they are much more useful (in my opinion) than at the bottom of the page. The problem is that the numbering goes off almost immediately, so the note on p. 55 is 19, although the number for the footnote in the text on that page is 17. In some cases, like on pgs. 30 and 31, the illustration is printed over the text, obscuring a line or two of the author's message. I longed for a glossary, but didn't get one, so ended up with Post-It notes connecting me to pages with words I needed to revisit, like "ligatures" on p. 38. And finally, please, I would like an index. This book deserves an index, at the very least, and I know it costs a publisher extra to include one, but sometimes it is just the right thing to do!
One final comment: My family is pack ratty, and keeps odd receipts and notes for ages, but I think Kitty Burns Florey has it all over my ancestors. I am quite sure no one kept my handwriting practice sheets, as someone did hers. But since someone did, we can all enjoy how hard little Kitty worked to make her 'J's pretty.
One final comment: My family is pack ratty, and keeps odd receipts and notes for ages, but I think Kitty Burns Florey has it all over my ancestors. I am quite sure no one kept my handwriting practice sheets, as someone did hers. But since someone did, we can all enjoy how hard little Kitty worked to make her 'J's pretty.
May 12, 2018
I really enjoyed this one.
March 12, 2009
This is a fun book - but it has a couple of problems. The author is supposed to be a copy editor but there are a number of typos. Worse the numbering on the (very delightful) footnotes is all screwed up in chapter two - nothing you can't figure out, but disquieting. Even worse, the printing is badly aligned in at least two places so that it smears over an illustration. I thought this must be a self published type of book but Melville House Publishing has won awards. The other problem is the lonnnng (read boring) chapter on graphology. I could see a short chapter on the topic relating it to psychology and more on forensics (which I find interesting) but it goes on and on and I didn't care and didn't care and didn't care.
Clean up the editing and cut the graphology chapter by 2/3 and I would give this a 3+ at least and maybe a 4.
It is a quite fun collection of information about writing and font and pens and pencils. I grew up with penmanship class and using ink wells and fountain pens and have fallen so far from grace in the handwriting arena that I was voted as having the worst handwriting in my department and I found a lot of the information wonderfully nostalgic. It has just (except for the graphology) about exactly the amount of information most people want on this subject - that is not too much and not too deep but fun. I mean did you know that left handed people should get their quills from the right wing of the goose (swan, etc) and right handed people from the left wing?
My very favorite parts were the wonderful pictures, especially of the authors own and her friend's and family's writing and the evaluation of her own handwriting by an italic hand writing teacher. That part could have been much much longer. The footnotes are also quite amusing and must have been fun to write as well as to read.
Once again, where are the editors of the world - a good editor would have made this a real gem of a book. It is still worth reading - just skip the bulk of the graphology chapter and enjoy the rest.
Clean up the editing and cut the graphology chapter by 2/3 and I would give this a 3+ at least and maybe a 4.
It is a quite fun collection of information about writing and font and pens and pencils. I grew up with penmanship class and using ink wells and fountain pens and have fallen so far from grace in the handwriting arena that I was voted as having the worst handwriting in my department and I found a lot of the information wonderfully nostalgic. It has just (except for the graphology) about exactly the amount of information most people want on this subject - that is not too much and not too deep but fun. I mean did you know that left handed people should get their quills from the right wing of the goose (swan, etc) and right handed people from the left wing?
My very favorite parts were the wonderful pictures, especially of the authors own and her friend's and family's writing and the evaluation of her own handwriting by an italic hand writing teacher. That part could have been much much longer. The footnotes are also quite amusing and must have been fun to write as well as to read.
Once again, where are the editors of the world - a good editor would have made this a real gem of a book. It is still worth reading - just skip the bulk of the graphology chapter and enjoy the rest.
July 11, 2009
Kitty Burns Florey gives the first half of the book an excellent history of handwriting (think utensils, ink, paper, and handwriting style) with a few doses of wit thrown in.
It only seemed to drag at the chapter on graphology (which I believe to be about 90% baloney). but a little knowledge on it's few colorful characters still seemed to entertain.
I had hoped that she would have expounded a little more on the necessity of handwriting compared to today's writing technology, but it only seems that her analysis was saved for the last two pages of the book.
As for the book itself, it's pleasant to look at with a few illustrations (many humorous). My only gripe is that in the first chapter the footnotes were numbered wrong. I consider this to be pretty glaring because her footnotes are where most of the humor and interesting tidbits of info come from.
...and she's a copy editor by trade.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in why their handwriting looks the way it does.
It only seemed to drag at the chapter on graphology (which I believe to be about 90% baloney). but a little knowledge on it's few colorful characters still seemed to entertain.
I had hoped that she would have expounded a little more on the necessity of handwriting compared to today's writing technology, but it only seems that her analysis was saved for the last two pages of the book.
As for the book itself, it's pleasant to look at with a few illustrations (many humorous). My only gripe is that in the first chapter the footnotes were numbered wrong. I consider this to be pretty glaring because her footnotes are where most of the humor and interesting tidbits of info come from.
...and she's a copy editor by trade.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in why their handwriting looks the way it does.
July 13, 2014
Just a couple of days ago my coworker (a former teacher) and I were talking about the decline of handwriting, and how young students today were having difficulty reading anything in cursive because they'd never really learned to use it. So when I stumbled across this book I knew immediately that I had to read it.
I'm pretty sure I like the idea of beautiful handwriting more than I like the act of it, which is probably why I loved the book as much as I did. It seems very elegant and classy in a world that is decreasingly so.
Technology moves fast. Nowhere was this more evident than towards the end of the book when the author talked about keyboarding as the skill that every child needs now. I knew at that moment the book must have originally been published in 2010 or earlier--tablets don't have keyboards. Maybe that will be our next lost skill.
I'm pretty sure I like the idea of beautiful handwriting more than I like the act of it, which is probably why I loved the book as much as I did. It seems very elegant and classy in a world that is decreasingly so.
Technology moves fast. Nowhere was this more evident than towards the end of the book when the author talked about keyboarding as the skill that every child needs now. I knew at that moment the book must have originally been published in 2010 or earlier--tablets don't have keyboards. Maybe that will be our next lost skill.
February 15, 2009
This was full of funny historical facts about handwriting, writing implements, calligraphy instructors of the 19th century, Thoreau's family fortune in pencils, and many other amusing asides. A wonderfully put together history of handwriting in America. Full review here
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July 25, 2021Kitty Burns Florey's work grows on me with this book, the second of hers I've read. Script and Scribble complements that book, Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, particularly nicely. As I make my rounds of the increasingly endangered book store, I'll certainly be on the lookout for more of Ms. Florey's books.
June 11, 2015
If nothing else, it makes me want to improve my own script.
July 27, 2017
I don't remember who recommended this book to me but I obtained a copy off Amazon.
As an English teacher, I enjoyed learning about the tools of my trade. The author combined personal history with historical facts and trivia over paper, pens, and inks. The printed word and the written word were included.
I've recommended this book to a couple friends in the graphic arts. I may recommend this to a couple of teachers.
It inspired me to write a five-page long birthday letter to a friend. Wasn't that the point?
As an English teacher, I enjoyed learning about the tools of my trade. The author combined personal history with historical facts and trivia over paper, pens, and inks. The printed word and the written word were included.
I've recommended this book to a couple friends in the graphic arts. I may recommend this to a couple of teachers.
It inspired me to write a five-page long birthday letter to a friend. Wasn't that the point?
March 16, 2021
A wonderful expose on the history of handwriting, offering a little more in-depth explanation of the handwriting trends between Spenciarian and today (palmer, Bickman, D'Nealian, Getty-Dubay, etc). Excellent overview of the graphology movement, less focus on the ancient writing systems. She is more focused on the question of "Why is writing useful" than going into the educational debate of whether or not writing should be taught, though she does touch on that topic. She also explores in-depth how writing comes to stand for morality, which always fascinates me.
March 8, 2024
FUN!!! Very entertaining read. The author's style is whimsical, pleasant, joyful. The history is worth it even if you aren't crazy about the topic. I could almost guarantee you will be interested after reading it. I read a library copy. I'm going to buy the 2013 print edition and mark it up with notes using one of my favorite fountain pens.
March 28, 2021
I found this book informative, delightful, and funny. Enjoyable though and through, particularly for the handwriting enthusiasts of the world, a group I have identified with since elementary school.
Read
May 4, 2022Bill Bryson-esque. A meandering topical memoir with bookishly snarky asides and just enough applicable tips amidst the trivia to come away with the impression the time spent was both worthwhile and fun.
July 5, 2023
A bit dry, but interesting nonetheless-especially if you loved all of those handwriting worksheets GenX children completed in the 70s & 89s! Learned why pencils are yellow and why Italic might be the clearest/easiest style to read.
August 5, 2017
A good but cursory overview of the history of handwriting, how it was developed, and why it's so out of fashion today. I enjoyed the bits about the history, particularly medieval and Enlightenment.
March 15, 2019
I am so glad I bought this book. I am thrilled I read it. I am eager to write more with my fountain pens now.
August 16, 2022
Whimsical, US-oriented history of handwriting. As I write my books by hand in fountain pen, I thought this was a little gem.
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January 19, 2024Good broad overview of the history of handwriting, with some interesting suggestions for the future. Also, very funny footnotes.
November 9, 2014
This is a fun, light-hearted but educational book about the origins of handwriting beginning with ancient Sumeria and going through to modern day writing implements. Florey also covers the history of different writing styles as technology and culture have helped to shift our perception of good handwriting over time. It is interesting and entertaining to see the slow evolution and the sudden leaps in new directions that have occurred over six thousand years spelled out over thirty-seven pages. After that first chapter my favorites were definitely four and five, which cover the benefits of good handwriting and the pitfalls of ignoring this skill to let it atrophy. In between there is a chapter on "The Golden Age of Handwriting" which finally explained to me what Spencerian handwriting is and where it comes from. Let's just say I was way, way off before. The section on graphology I found a but wanting, but that might just be due to the fact that I owned a book on the subject as a kid and so I was not learning nearly as much novel information. As a chapter it covers the history of graphology, or the study of one's personality through handwriting samples, quite well. I would like to have seen more examples, or even a whole other chapter on how it works with samples, etc. As it stands I had to make due with a handful of signatures from historical figures. Poe had a beautiful John Hancock, by the way.
I enjoyed Florey's autobiographical field trips through handwriting education and the heady days of typewriters as well. It may be in part because it mirrored so much of what my favorite aunt has told me about her life growing up and working as a perpetual secretary. But that just means that these stories have the ring of truth. It's also very interesting to consider the generational differences in the way people are taught to think about their handwriting and how it reflects on themselves (hence, I think, her choice to add the chapter on graphology) in the lives of one's parents versus oneself versus the current generation that is coming of age in the digital era.
Most importantly, this book made me think critically about the way that I approach handwriting. On a subconscious level I have made changes to my style over time, and each time it was meant to be an extremely subtle statement of who I was at that point in my life as opposed to who I had so recently been in the incessant evolution of the self. And it made me want to improve my (already respectable) handwriting even further through consideration and purposeful practice whenever possible. What more could you ask of a book than to teach you something, to make you laugh, to provide you with insights into your family's history and to make you want to improve yourself? I suppose in the end I just wish it were longer.
I enjoyed Florey's autobiographical field trips through handwriting education and the heady days of typewriters as well. It may be in part because it mirrored so much of what my favorite aunt has told me about her life growing up and working as a perpetual secretary. But that just means that these stories have the ring of truth. It's also very interesting to consider the generational differences in the way people are taught to think about their handwriting and how it reflects on themselves (hence, I think, her choice to add the chapter on graphology) in the lives of one's parents versus oneself versus the current generation that is coming of age in the digital era.
Most importantly, this book made me think critically about the way that I approach handwriting. On a subconscious level I have made changes to my style over time, and each time it was meant to be an extremely subtle statement of who I was at that point in my life as opposed to who I had so recently been in the incessant evolution of the self. And it made me want to improve my (already respectable) handwriting even further through consideration and purposeful practice whenever possible. What more could you ask of a book than to teach you something, to make you laugh, to provide you with insights into your family's history and to make you want to improve yourself? I suppose in the end I just wish it were longer.
October 29, 2009
As someone whose handwriting has been interpreted as poor by the occasional student, family member reading my phone messages,....., I found this a surprisingly fun, interesting book. The author is a lifelong handwriting fanatic who spends leisure time practicing different styles, seeks in adulthood to improve her already beautiful script, knows the history of the Palmer method, etc. yet understands the difficulties many/most boys and men have writing legibly or caring about it.
Topical detours along the way include the predictable (physicians' handwriting is often poor, and this can cause prescription errors) and the less predictable, e.g., a mini-study she conducts with a few friends of graphologists -- she rates the personality feedback from them as accurate, inaccurate, or so generic it would fit anyone -- and anecdotes about creative writers' favorite procedures for getting words down (e.g., the old-fashioned Wendell Berry method of writing everything longhand and then having your spouse type it up -- doubtful most of us could implement this tactic).
My big consciousness-raising moment was reading about efforts in Portland, OR schools to teach kids a unified ("italic") method of handwriting to promote legibility. She likens the traditional "learn to print in first grade, learn cursive starting in 3rd grade" dualism to teaching math by having kids work first with roman numerals and then eventually graduate to arabic. I was so brainwashed by the Man that I never even questioned why we were doing it that way. I wonder whom I could sue to recapture the time I spent learning cursive I never use anymore except to sign my name.
Given the topic it seems apt to comment on presentation - I LOVE the method of showing footnotes to the text used in this book. She uses footnote numbering and then places the note in the side margin right by the marked text. Much, much easier to stop and read these than with the more common system of having no text marking, and the notes stuck in the back of the book.
Topical detours along the way include the predictable (physicians' handwriting is often poor, and this can cause prescription errors) and the less predictable, e.g., a mini-study she conducts with a few friends of graphologists -- she rates the personality feedback from them as accurate, inaccurate, or so generic it would fit anyone -- and anecdotes about creative writers' favorite procedures for getting words down (e.g., the old-fashioned Wendell Berry method of writing everything longhand and then having your spouse type it up -- doubtful most of us could implement this tactic).
My big consciousness-raising moment was reading about efforts in Portland, OR schools to teach kids a unified ("italic") method of handwriting to promote legibility. She likens the traditional "learn to print in first grade, learn cursive starting in 3rd grade" dualism to teaching math by having kids work first with roman numerals and then eventually graduate to arabic. I was so brainwashed by the Man that I never even questioned why we were doing it that way. I wonder whom I could sue to recapture the time I spent learning cursive I never use anymore except to sign my name.
Given the topic it seems apt to comment on presentation - I LOVE the method of showing footnotes to the text used in this book. She uses footnote numbering and then places the note in the side margin right by the marked text. Much, much easier to stop and read these than with the more common system of having no text marking, and the notes stuck in the back of the book.
March 25, 2011
Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting by Kitty Burns Florey is an overview of history of handwriting. I was distracted by some page layout issues in the book, particularly in the first chapter where the footnotes were mis-numbered and some of the photos butted up against the text. I hated that the layout issues colored my impression of the book because there are lots of fun little details and trivia bits along the margins.
I enjoyed the quick overview of the rise of writing through history though the majority of the content deals with the last 100 years of writing.
One chapter struck me as odd though; the history of handwriting analysis. I realize its an interesting aspect of handwriting and everyone believes their personality might come out in their writing but overall it seemed like it should have been a couple of paragraphs, not a whole chapter.
The book did reaffirm my belief that handwriting remains an important component of our lives and it remains a skill that will never need batteries or electricity for us to accomplish. Thinking of the people in Japan right now suffering through blackouts makes it even more poignant to think of how seldom we practice our handwriting skills with the convenience of computers and cell phones.
In the end, I was inspired to break out my copy of Teach Yourself Better Handwriting by Rosemary Sassoon and Gunnlaugur S.E. Briem and bagan to practice handwriting with more thoughtfulness.
I enjoyed the quick overview of the rise of writing through history though the majority of the content deals with the last 100 years of writing.
One chapter struck me as odd though; the history of handwriting analysis. I realize its an interesting aspect of handwriting and everyone believes their personality might come out in their writing but overall it seemed like it should have been a couple of paragraphs, not a whole chapter.
The book did reaffirm my belief that handwriting remains an important component of our lives and it remains a skill that will never need batteries or electricity for us to accomplish. Thinking of the people in Japan right now suffering through blackouts makes it even more poignant to think of how seldom we practice our handwriting skills with the convenience of computers and cell phones.
In the end, I was inspired to break out my copy of Teach Yourself Better Handwriting by Rosemary Sassoon and Gunnlaugur S.E. Briem and bagan to practice handwriting with more thoughtfulness.
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March 11, 2017An easy introduction to the subject. Learned quite a bit about the history and contemporary questions concerning handwriting. Took some notes--good bibliography of more academic studies. Introduced to some important historical figures in the history of handwriting.
Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series
George Gaskell Gaskell's Complete Compendium of Elegant Writing
Edward Johnston. Writing and Illuminating and Lettering
Tamara Plakins Thornton Handwriting in America
Sheila Waters. Foundations of Calligraphy
acrophony
calamus
English Roundhand
encaustum
pangrams
Aldus Manutius
Francesco Griffo
A.S. Osley
Antonio Sinibaldi
Giambattista Palatino
Ludovico Vincentio Arrighi
Richard Esterbrook
Conklin
Waterman
Schaefer
Mont Blanc
Parker
Cross
Laszlo Biro
Michel Bich
Nicholas Jacques Conte
Lothar von Faber
Jean Pierre Alibert
Charles Dunbar
John Thoreau
Platt Rogers Spenser
Charles Paxton Zaner
Elmer Ward Bloser
A. N. Palmer
The Western Penman (Palmer)
Camillo Baldi
Abbe Jean-Hyppolyte Michon
J. Crepieux-Jamin
Klara Roman
Milton Bunker
Louise Rice
June Etta Downey
Philip E. Vernon
Gordon Allport
Saul Steinberg
Wilfred Blunt
Lloyd Reynolds
Kate Gladstone
Organizations and Periodicals
Calligraphers Guild
Yoshodo--Japanese Penmanship Assoc.
The Pennant--mag
Pen World International--mag
Stylus--mag
Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series
George Gaskell Gaskell's Complete Compendium of Elegant Writing
Edward Johnston. Writing and Illuminating and Lettering
Tamara Plakins Thornton Handwriting in America
Sheila Waters. Foundations of Calligraphy
acrophony
calamus
English Roundhand
encaustum
pangrams
Aldus Manutius
Francesco Griffo
A.S. Osley
Antonio Sinibaldi
Giambattista Palatino
Ludovico Vincentio Arrighi
Richard Esterbrook
Conklin
Waterman
Schaefer
Mont Blanc
Parker
Cross
Laszlo Biro
Michel Bich
Nicholas Jacques Conte
Lothar von Faber
Jean Pierre Alibert
Charles Dunbar
John Thoreau
Platt Rogers Spenser
Charles Paxton Zaner
Elmer Ward Bloser
A. N. Palmer
The Western Penman (Palmer)
Camillo Baldi
Abbe Jean-Hyppolyte Michon
J. Crepieux-Jamin
Klara Roman
Milton Bunker
Louise Rice
June Etta Downey
Philip E. Vernon
Gordon Allport
Saul Steinberg
Wilfred Blunt
Lloyd Reynolds
Kate Gladstone
Organizations and Periodicals
Calligraphers Guild
Yoshodo--Japanese Penmanship Assoc.
The Pennant--mag
Pen World International--mag
Stylus--mag
September 3, 2009
A lovely little book about penmanship that strikes a nice balance between the history of handwriting and exploring the state of handwriting today. Florey's writing style is very welcoming and her sense of humor clicked with me.
As someone with mildly atrocious handwriting, I thought I would be most interested in what she had to say about handwriting versus typing. While she does address this, I found my attention grabbed by her discussion of different writing methods, such as Spenserian, Palmer, and, what I'm pretty sure I was taught in the mid 1970s, Zaner-Bloser. Who knew?
In addition to being informative, this book is close to ideal, physically. It's an unusual shape, having room for footnotes in the outside margins (are they still called footnote if they're in the margins?) -- although the numbering of the notes got off somewhere in the first chapter. And the illustrations, many of them examples of the author's writing from throughout her life, are in-line with the text. I can't tell you how much having this arrangement improves the reading experience.
Now I want to get a good fountain pen and start practicing Getty-Dubay cursive italic. Someone else may just yet understand my scrawl!
As someone with mildly atrocious handwriting, I thought I would be most interested in what she had to say about handwriting versus typing. While she does address this, I found my attention grabbed by her discussion of different writing methods, such as Spenserian, Palmer, and, what I'm pretty sure I was taught in the mid 1970s, Zaner-Bloser. Who knew?
In addition to being informative, this book is close to ideal, physically. It's an unusual shape, having room for footnotes in the outside margins (are they still called footnote if they're in the margins?) -- although the numbering of the notes got off somewhere in the first chapter. And the illustrations, many of them examples of the author's writing from throughout her life, are in-line with the text. I can't tell you how much having this arrangement improves the reading experience.
Now I want to get a good fountain pen and start practicing Getty-Dubay cursive italic. Someone else may just yet understand my scrawl!
March 8, 2015
Fascinating history about handwriting and penmanship through the ages. I also appreciated her personal tidbits to make the factual histories more interesting. I recall as a middle-schooler and young adult practicing my signatures and worrying about how I'd have to make it cool again upon getting married (pity that my last name is now a "B" as I never liked my cursive "B"…so I really had to get creative).
Anyway, the evolution of script is interesting, but what I truly took away was the introduction of the Getty-Dubay method of writing. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!! I wish more schools would teach this method versus the antiquated evolutions of Spencarian script with the pointless loops. I am so impressed that's what I'm working on having my son learn since schools barely teach handwriting anymore (and his is atrocious).
And yes, knowing how to write is a proven more efficient way for people to absorb and recall information. Better than simply typing. And in 1,000 years, when we've potentially exhausted our energy supplies, I hope the human race will have not forgotten how to write on the walls of caves!
Anyway, the evolution of script is interesting, but what I truly took away was the introduction of the Getty-Dubay method of writing. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!! I wish more schools would teach this method versus the antiquated evolutions of Spencarian script with the pointless loops. I am so impressed that's what I'm working on having my son learn since schools barely teach handwriting anymore (and his is atrocious).
And yes, knowing how to write is a proven more efficient way for people to absorb and recall information. Better than simply typing. And in 1,000 years, when we've potentially exhausted our energy supplies, I hope the human race will have not forgotten how to write on the walls of caves!
March 11, 2009
I really enjoyed this book, though there were some egregious copy/design errors (misnumbered footnotes, illustrations obscuring text) that such a stickler should not have let slip past her eagle eye.
While I am definitely in the camp of those who think that the lack of handwriting practice will be detrimental to young people down the line, I also say that those who liked handwriting practice in school, and did fairly well at it, think that it should continue to be taught. While those who hated it, like my mate, think it's a waste of time.
I was the perfect audience for this book. I only wish I'd known about it about six months ago, when I was writing the handwriting and pen-pal chapter of Good Mail Day, a book about correspondence and mail art that will be coming out next fall! Ah well, best to know I did not unintentionally plagiarize Florey's lovely, witty, charming writing.
While I am definitely in the camp of those who think that the lack of handwriting practice will be detrimental to young people down the line, I also say that those who liked handwriting practice in school, and did fairly well at it, think that it should continue to be taught. While those who hated it, like my mate, think it's a waste of time.
I was the perfect audience for this book. I only wish I'd known about it about six months ago, when I was writing the handwriting and pen-pal chapter of Good Mail Day, a book about correspondence and mail art that will be coming out next fall! Ah well, best to know I did not unintentionally plagiarize Florey's lovely, witty, charming writing.
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