Hello all!
I've decided that in order to be better at updating, I'm going to try publishing a segment called "Manuscript Monday" every (you guessed it) Monday posting something from a primary source.
Recently my young man was perusing the library and found this book for sale, and let me tell you ladies and gentleman, it has revolutionized my life. It's called The Encyclopedia of Business and Social Forms, and let me tell you, they're not exaggerating when they call it that. It's the PERFECT source for the Making of a Lady Project, because it contains minutia from every facet of everyday life you could dream of (some parts are directed more at males or females but the foreword does definitively mention it as for "the young person" of either sex). It's the Victorian (my edition is from 1900, and the first was from 1881) guide to being a Renaissance man or woman! This text has everything- geography, history, etiquette, interest rates, a thesaurus, exchange rates, poetry, farming tips, recipes...! I could go on. I shall go on, but you shan't need to put up with my verbosity, but instead hear it from the horse's mouth. In all likelihood my next few Manuscript Monday posts are going to be from this text, and I promise you it needn't get old for I shall vary the breadth of material that it covers.
This week I'm going to be starting where the book starts, but I'll be skipping about in future. Notice how every topic covers not only the knowledge, but the epistemology- how we know what we know, and why we feel justified in declaring it to be true. This is a truly rounded model of education, and as an educator it makes me positively giddy to read a source that believes in edification for its own sake. Something else one notices, something peculiar to this time period, is the certainty with which it faces every matter- the turn of the century was an era of unadulterated optimism, at least as far as a belief in human progress was concerned. Mankind was making rapid advances in medicine, science, transportation- there was no apparent limit to human progress! And yet, this was not an era afraid to settle on that which had been perfected by previous generations, for this was not a generation who, to quote G.K. Chesterton's 1923 observation, "prefer Thursday to Wednesday simply because it is Thursday". Rather it was one that saw itself as the latest generation of a human family of whose achievements they were the recipients. It was, first and foremost, a generation of confidence, and it was perhaps the failure of the late Edwardians to actively pass the epistemology of this on to their children as their own Victorian parents had done that caused such an era of confusion after the Great War.
I have kept spelling and grammar as I have found it.
So, without further ado, from The Encyclopedia of Business and Social Forms, "The Art of Letter Writing: Showing How To Acquire A Good Handwriting":
"PENMANSHIP
Writing is the art of expressing ideas by visible signs or characters inscribed on some material. It is either ideographic or phonetic. Ideographic writing may be either pictoral, representing representing objects by imitating their forms, or symbolic, by indicating their nature or proportions. Phonetic writing may be syllabic or alphabetic; in the former, each character represents a syllable; in the latter, a single letter.
The first mention of written letters of which we have any record is in the account given in the Book of Genesis of the Tables of the Law. We are told that the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God on tables or tablets of stone. This statement has led some writers, among them the learned Dr. Adam Clarke, to believe that letters Divinely invented upon this occasion. There is no necessity, however, for taking this view of the case; for at the time of the "Giving of the Law", a written language was the possession of each of the nations inhabiting the southern short of the Mediterranean. The Phoenician alphabet, upon which that of the Hebrews was modelled, had been in existence for several centuries before this time, and as Phoenicia was then dependency of Egypt, and engaged in active commerce with that country, Moses was doubtless acquainted with the Phoenician system. The fact that the Hebrew alphabet was modeled upon the Phoenician seems almost a positive proof of this theory.
The date of the invention of the Phoenician alphabet, which was the first purely phonetic system ever used, is now definitely settled. It was during the supremacy of the Shepherd Kings over Egypt. These were princes of Canaanitish origin, who had conquered Lower Egypt, and were contemporary with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The discoveries of science give us reason to believe that it was the Shepherd Kings of Avaris, who borrowed from the Egyptian hieratic writing a certain number of alphabetical characters, employed them to represent the sounds of their own language, and thus produced the Phoenician alphabet of twenty-two letters, the origin of most of the other alphabets of the world. The Phoenicians not only invented the alphabet; they taught the use of it to all nations with whom they had commercial transactions.
With the progress of the world, the art of writing and characters employed were greatly simplified, until the system in use at present was adopted by the civilized nations of the world.
Penmanship is the art of writing well. It is one of the most important accomplishments a person can possess. No matter what your position in life, the ability to write a good, clear, legible hand is a priceless possession. To a young man starting out to make his way in life, it is so much genuine capital, which he can turn to advantage at almost every step. The great object should be to write a firm, clear hand, with uniformly made, well-shaped, and properly shaded letters. An abundance of flourishes or marks is a defect, except where ornamental writing or "flourishing" is intended.
The present system of forming and combining letters seems to be perfect. It enables the writer to put his thoughts to paper almost with the rapidity of speech, and it is not probable that it will ever be improved upon.
In this country two styles of penmanship are in use. One is known as the round hand, the other as the angular. A new system, known as the semi-angular, has been introduced, mainly through the efforts of the Spencers, and Payson, Dunton and Scribner, and is winning its way to favor, and is winning its way to favor. The "copy books" prepared by these masters present the best and most progressive system of penmanship now accessible to the learner, and we cordially commend them to all.
PRACTICE
The only way in which a person can acquire the art of writing a good hand is by constant and conscientious practice. With some persons good penmanship is a gift, but all may acquire it by persistent practice. Select a good system of copies- the series referred to above cannot be improved upon- and try faithfully to form your hand upon the model selected. Do not be satisfied until you can do as well as the master you are seeking to imitate.
WRITING MATERIALS
It is of the greatest importance that the writing materials used by you should be of the best quality.The pen should be of steel or of gold. Many persons prefer the gold pen, because it more nearly approaches the quill in flexibility. It is also the most durable pen. A good gold pen, properly used, should last for years. For general use, and especially for ornamental writing, a good steel pen is by far the best. It enables you to make a finer and sharper line than can possibly be made with the gold or quill pen.
The paper should be of the best quality and texture, clearly ruled, and not too rough in surface. It is most common now to use copy-books, regularly prepared and ruled. These may be o btained from any stationer, those of the Spencerian System, and of Payson, Dunton and Scribner being the best. It is a good plan, after you have completed a copy-book, to go over the same set of copies again. This may be done by taking half a dozen sheets of foolscap and cutting them in half. Place the half sheets within each other, and stitch them together, protecting the whole with a cover of stiff paper. Then use the copies of the book you have just finished, writing on the new book you have thus made. This saves the expense of a new copy-book.A slip of blotting paper should be provided for every copy-book. In writing rest the hand upon this, especially in warm weather. The perspiration thrown off by the hand is greasy in its nature, and soils the paper upon which the hand rests, and renders it unfit to receive the ink.
Never use poor ink. Black ink should always be used in learning to write, and in ordinary correspondence. Blue and red inks are designed for special purposes, and not for ordinary use. An ink that flows freely and is nearly black when first used is best. Do not use a shallow or light inkstand. The first will not allow you to fill your pen properly; the latter will be easily turned over. the inkstand should be heavy and flat, and of such a form that you can at once see the amount of ink in it, and thus know how deep to dip your pen. Dip your pen lightly into the ink, and see that it does not take up too much. The surplus ink should be thrown back into the inkstand, and not upon the floor. By stopping the mouth of the bottle when you have finished using it, you will prevent the ink from evaporating too fast, and also from becoming too thick.
A pen-wiper should always be provided. This should be of some substance that will not leave a fibre in the slit of the pen. A linen rag or a piece of chamois or buckskin will answer.
After you have learned to write, it is well to provide your desk with a lead pencil, a piece of India rubber, a ruler, and a bottle of mucilage and a brush.
POSITION OF THE WRITER
The position of the writer is a matter of the greatest importance, as it decides his comfort at the time, and exercises a powerful influence upon his general health.
The main object is to acquire an easy and graceful position, one in which the right arm has full play of the muscles used in writing.The table should be sufficiently high to compel you to sit upright. Avoid stooping, as destructive of a good hand and of good health. Your position should be such as will enable you to fill your lungs without much effort. Sit with your right side next to the desk or table, and in such a position that the light will fall over your right shoulder upon the paper.
The right forearm must be placed on the desk so as to rest the muscle front of the elbow, and the hand placed on the book so as to rest the nails of the third and fourth fingers.
The forearm must be at right angles with the copy, the book being steadied by the fingers of the left hand placed on the paper at the left of the pen-point. Hold the wrist naturally over the desk, and you will see that the inner side is raised a little higher than the outer. Keep the wrist free from the desk, and do not let it turn over to the right or the left, or bend down or up, or otherwise.
Hold the pen lightly between the thumb and first two fingers, letting it cross the forefinger in front of the third joint. Rest the base of the holder at the nail of the middle finger. Place the forefinger over the holder. Bend the thumb and fingers outward, and let the third and fourth fingers under to rest the hand on the nails. Let the bibs of the pen press the paper evenly.
The pen should be in a vertical plane with the inside of the forearm, and inclined at an angle of fifty-two degrees (52ยบ) from the base.
The movements in writing are produced by the extension and retraction of the pen-fingers and the thumb; by action of the forearm on the arm-rest as a centre of motion; the whole arm movement, which is the action of the whole arm from the shoulder as the centre of motion; and the union of all these movements. In ordinary writing, the first is sufficient. In ornamental writing, flourishing, etc., all the various movements are employed.
The fingers should be kept flexible, and their movements, as well as those of the hand and wrist, should be free and unrestrained. Cramping or stiffening either the fingers or the wrist causes the handwriting to be cramped and awkward, and greatly fatigues the writer. The pen should be held as lightly as though the least pressure would crush it, and not grasped as though you thought it would fly away.
In standing at a desk to write, stand upright, and with the chest well thrown out. The desk should be high enough to compel you to do this. It should slightly incline from the outer edge upwards, and should project far enough to allow you to place your feet well under it. The principal weight of the body should rest upon the left foot, the right being thrown forward. Stand with your left side towards the desk, and rest your body on the left elbow, which should be laid upon the desk in such a manner as to enable you to steady your paper or book with the left hand. This position will enable you to write freely in the ordinary manner, or to use the whole forearm should you desire to do so. The pen-holder should point towards the right shoulder.
A great saving of fatigue is made by assuming and keeping a correct position while writing either sitting or standing. By conscientiously attending to this matter, you will soon acquire the habit of maintaining a correct position, and will reap the benefit in the ease with which you perform your task, and in improved health.
No none should be satisfied with a bad handwriting when it is in his power to improve it. Any one can procure a copy-book, and can spare an hour, or half an hour, a day for this effort at improvement. You should begin at the beginning, and practise faithfully until you have reached a satisfactory result. Remember that a good hand is not acquired in a week or a month; it takes long and diligent practice to produce this result. The end, however, is worth all the labor necessary to its accomplishment.
The great aim should be to make the handwriting legible. An ornamental hand is very attractive, but it may be this and yet not easily read. This is to fail in the first requisite of good writing.
The advantages of writing well are numerous, and will readily suggest themselves. In the first place, it is always a pleasure to prepare a plainly and neatly-written letter or paper. The writer is then never afraid or ashamed for his friends to see his writing, and is never disgraced by a wretched scrawl in addressing a letter to a stranger.
A good hand is also an invaluable aid to a young man seeking employment. A merchant employing clerks and salesmen will always give the preference to the best penman. A young man applying by letter for a situation can scarcely offer a better reference than the appearance of his letter. Should you wish to become a book-keeper or accountant, a good handwriting is a necessity."
