Old School

[Hardcase]

I have pages and pages of letters written by my ancestors, back to the early 1800s. I'm really quite amazed at the content and writing style, as well as (most of the time) the penmanship. To me, they're quite readable. And, given the very limited education that folks like my great, great grandfather (who wrote the letter below), they're usually quite well written.

 

Take a look:

 

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o715/drew_dunn1/1851-05-21WilliamCoopertoChristopherCooper1_zps31b8c65f.jpg

 

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o715/drew_dunn1/1851-05-21WilliamCoopertoChristopherCooper2_zpsba3dba71.jpg

 

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o715/drew_dunn1/1851-05-21WilliamCoopertoChristopherCooper3_zpsfcea79fc.jpg

[Ayla]

Holy S*%#! I wish I could write half that well! That's not bad handwriting at all!!! Thanks for sharing!!

[londonbooks]

Really beautiful penmanship. What do you think they used for fountain pens back then. Would it be one of those old quill types?

[theverdictis]

That is absolutely brilliant! Really like his style of handwriting.

[Ceramicist]

What a treasure and a wonderful opportunity as well- the history and wealth of information one can glean from such a personal archive.

Beautiful penmanship, too!

[Hardcase]

I'm glad you liked it! Somehow, all of these letters were saved through something like six generations. And enough of them to get a pretty good feel of what things were like for them as they migrated from Wales to Maryland, Virginia, Missouri, California, Oregon and Idaho over the course of about 80 years. I'm very thankful.

[egretsrus]

absolutely amazing!!! i wonder how they measured miles in those days... by the stars?

[londonbooks]

I'm curious to know what type of writing instrument was used for the letters.

[JotterAddict62]

Wonderful history for a moment in time.

[furious]

What a fantastic letter and written record of your family's travels! Thanks for sharing.

[Hardcase]

About all that I know of the writing instrument is that it was probably some kind of steel nib pen. Given his financial situation, it would have been whatever the cheapest pen and ink were available in St. Louis (or maybe Independence) before he left.

[bokchoy]

"Excuse my bad writing as I am doing it in a hurry out in the wind."

 

What's there to excuse? It's beautiful

[londonbooks]

About all that I know of the writing instrument is that it was probably some kind of steel nib pen. Given his financial situation, it would have been whatever the cheapest pen and ink were available in St. Louis (or maybe Independence) before he left.

 

 

It's amazing that they were able to write so well with what had to be a pretty crude pen. Then again I can't really call it crude if they were able to write like that. I think the results with those pens can be compared to the results we get these days with our $500 instruments.

[Hardcase]

Oh, by the way, he got the cattle to Crescent City, CA and sold them there. Then he caught gold fever and went a little north, just over the border into what would become Oregon, to a place called "Sailor Diggins". I don't think that he made much money mining, but he did figure out that there was plenty to be made in selling goods to miners. He ended up owning a pool hall.

[proton007]

The handwriting is worthy of

 

And it looks like it was written with a dip nib.

 

A lot of the magic comes from the flex, and the rest from the shapes. Lovely.

[Algester]

1800s huh... for all I know quill pens existed until early 1800s until they were superseded by fountain pens but thats how far back my memory goes... which I could be wrong but must probably a dip pen if that would be the case

[dcwaites]

Steel nib dip pens were developed in the early 1800s, but were hand made and too expensive for most people until mass production techniques brought the price down in about the 1830s.

The letter is dated 1851, so it would have been a clerical style dip nib rather like these --

 

 

Notice the similarity in how the written characters vary.

The pen holder would have been very basic, like these

 

[Algester]

man despite being 23 years old im suddenly starting feel very old... too old

[SuperNib44]

What is the x height?