Distributed for Intellect Ltd
Handwriting of the Twentieth Century
As letter-writing has fallen by the wayside, the art of lavish yet legible handwriting is no longer being taught to schoolchildren or employed in daily life—much to the dismay of those who receive hastily scrawled love notes or try to decipher a doctor’s prescription. In an age when script manuals for students are disappearing at a rapid rate and writing samples are ephemeral, Rosemary Sassoon’s Handwriting of the Twentieth Century provides the first historical record of teaching the skill of writing in the last 100 years.
In addition to illustrating the techniques used by handwriting instructors and documenting the ever-changing views of script stylists, this volume probes the development and manufacture of writing equipment as well as useful examples for today’s teachers of writing. Handwriting of the Twentieth Century is a delightful, comprehensive account of our constant quest for fluent and clear handwritten script.
“...excellent and comprehensive illustrated book—which takes us through not only what happened in the United Kingdom, but brings in information about other English speaking countries such as America and Australia as well as European scripts, providing samples and explanations that are valuable as a reference. . . . The book’s well-written Epilogue merits a section being printed—It couldn’t be put better by a graphologist!”—Elaine Quigley, Graphologist
208 pages | 112 line drawings and halftones | 6 3/4 x 9 | © 2007
Art: Art--General Studies
Education: Education--General Studies, History of Education
Reviews
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Influences on contemporary handwriting: A historical perspective
Chapter 2 The turn of the century
Chapter 3 Learning from copy books
Chapter 4 Simplifying letterforms
Chapter 5 Initiatives and models from 1930
Chapter 6 Educational attitudes mid-century
Chapter 7 Stylistic issues after 1950
Chapter 8 Initiatives in the 1960s
Chapter 9 From 1970 to the National Curriculum
Chapter 10 The end of the century
Chapter 11 Handwriting around Europe
Chapter 12 America and Australia
Epilogue
References
Index