Although I am not directly interested in English calligraphy, I feel it is necessary to practice it using copybooks to improve regular handwriting. I feel my pencil handwriting could definitely be improved, if not in legibility then in speed and comfort, mostly for timed essay-writes in school. I've done some searching of my own and have found some popular copybooks to be Spencerian, George Bickham's The Universal Penman, and Copperplate. I've also skimmed through the Handwriting Aids sticky, but while it provides some great examples and methods, it doesn't recommend copybooks. My question is: what is a good copybook to start with if my goal is developing pencil handwriting that is both quick and legible?

I personally feel that Italic would be the ideal style for your requirements. I recommmend any of the books on Italic by Tom Gourdie, but there are several others in print which would suffice.

You'll find some excellent recommendations in "Books on Italic handwriting and calligraphy" at the top of this forum.


Good luck!

caliken

Might google for something under "Zaner Blosser" or "Palmer." There are plenty of examples you can print out for practice on the net these days in addition to low cost instructional materials. I go with Z-B as I find Palmer a bit affected and script-italic (the Gladstone - Dubay system) a bit too blunt. YMMV

Best of luck

Try these:

http://www.sites4teachers.com/links/redire.../manuscript.htm

http://www.sites4teachers.com/links/redire.../66.113.195.73/

http://www.iampeth.com/books.php

http://jp29.org/itdr.htm

Excellent, thank you very much for your suggestions! I have ordered Gourdie's Calligraphy for the Beginner, as I was pleased by its potential balance of artistic quality and speed. In the meantime, those websites are helping in tidying my current handwriting.