A pen for your thoughts

" BELIEVE it or not, the mighty pen once wielded as much power as a sword. A couple of centuries ago, warriors might have been admired for their heroic deeds but it was the unsung scribes who were important in keeping a kingdom together by recording royal edicts. 

The Bible, Magna Carta and the American Declaration of Independence were all meticulously penned by skilled hands, as were numerous other treaties and agreements of historical significance. 

The art of modern writing, however, has been credited to one Platt Rogers Spencer from Iowa, United States. After spending two years in an insurance firm laboriously hand writing legal documents, he developed what became known as the Palmer Method of handwriting, which is still common among North Americans today.

The Palmer way eliminated the extravagant flourishes and decorative elements so popular during the 18th and 19th centuries. Spencer’s experience taught him to use muscular movements to create a system of ovals and straight lines that helped him control his writing rhythm and speed in order to produce graceful, flowing penman ship known as script writing. (This should not be confused with calligraphy, which involves a slow process of inscribing each letter.)

By 1904, the New York public school system had adopted the Palmer Method and this signalled a whole new (and more practical) era for hand writing.

Unfortunately, by the 1950s, typewriters and copy machines like cyclostyling machines (remember them?) became common and the good ol’ art of penmanship made way for quicker ways of penning one’s thoughts...."

The Star Online
Malaysia
Read on.

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Comments

[Chris Meisenzahl]

Interesting history, thanks.

[maryanne moll]

i cannot place my comment on the site itself, so i'll just comment here.

platt rogers spencer did not invent the palmer script. it was a.n. palmer who invented the palmer script. spencer invented the spencerian script. the difference between the two is that the spencerian is more ornate and is used mostly for personal correspondences, while the palmer script is used for business correspondences and records.

the palmer is what secretaries were required to master because having a uniform script for all business records and letters make reading faster and easier.

for both scripts, though, one has to hold the pen a particular way. the wrists should not rest on the table, the barrel of the pen must rest on top of the knuckle of the forefinger, and it is the last three fingers, curled under the rest of the pen, that should support the entire hand and glide it over the paper. also, each word must consist of one unbroken complicated line. t's muct be crossed and i's must be dotted only after the while word has been written out, no matter how long the word is.

proper penmanship must have a rhythm. often, students used to be required to practice their drills while playing classical music or waltzes of a particular pace.