Book one of John Jenkins' The Art of Writing, 1813, may be found online at:

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/...iew=toc;c=nietz

I find this a fascinating volume. I am intrigued by the formality of the instruction, the methods described, and endorsement of the work by such figures as John Adams.

I do have a few questions for those who may also be interested in late 18th- or early 19th-century handwriting --

What style of writing does The Art of Writing present? Is this English Roundhand, or an early part of the evolution to Copperplate (or is this not a distinction at all?)? It seems clear that the expectation is for the pupil to make use of a quill pen, and I wonder if this in itself mandates the style of the resulting hand?

Please read as well the description of the pen hold on page 24. If I am interpreting this correctly, the pen is to be held between the balls of the thumb -and the second finger- ("near the corner of the nail at each"). This seems to be a "three finger hold," instead of the "thumb plus first finger, with the pen resting across the middle finger."

Is this the proper reading? Could such a hold make finger movement less likely when drawing letters or connectors?

Is that hold really distinct from that shown and described in The New Spencerian Compendium of Penmanship on pages 6, 27 and 32 (etc.)? --

http://www.iampeth.com/books/spencerian_co...dium_page6.html
http://www.iampeth.com/books/spencerian_co...ium_page27.html
http://www.iampeth.com/books/spencerian_co...ium_page32.html

or on pages 3 and others of L.M. Kelchner's A Complete Compendium of Plain Practical Penmanship?

http://www.iampeth.com/books/kelchner_comp...hner_page2.html

?

Any and all explanations will be very much appreciated!

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

First of all, thank you for sharing these wonderful finds!
This is exactly how I was taught to hold my pen in the early 1960s, and I still do it that way now. Everybody I know who was taught writing with a dip or fountain pen in primary school, as is still the rule here in the Netherlands, uses that same grip when holding a fountain pen, when right handed of course. Lefties may do things slightly differently, especially overwriters. Of course, when people have been using BPs for most of their lives, you'll find they hold the pen very straight, although most even then hold it with the 3-finger grip as described.
This looks essentially the same to me, although the drawing on the first two pages you mention is slightly more from the right front (with regard to the writer), and therefore looks a little funny. The drawing on the last page is a little strange, though. As if they forgot that the tip of the middle finger should stick out from behind the pen a little.

I find I rest the pen on my middle finger, at a spot between the nail and the joint, a little closer to the nail than the joint, but I do have fairly long fingers. Of course, the nail I don't touch, as the finger is pointing forward and a little downward.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Wim -- thanks for your reply!

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

It's only a pleasure!

Warm regards, Wim