What Are Your Favorite Books To Copy?

[CAG_1787]

One of the best ways I've found to practice handwriting and enjoy my pens is copying out literary passages. Sometimes it's brief passages, other times it can be a whole book over a long period. My favorites have been Baltasar Gracian's Art of Worldly Wisdom, Tennyson poems, Scripture, and Aurelius's Meditations. If you have a similar practice, what are your favorite books or extended passages to copy out?

[PAKMAN]

Scripture for me, it just seems right to be copied in italic script.

[The Good Captain]

HG Wells 'The Invisible Man'.

Then it wouldn't matter which ink you used...!

[haruka337]

-George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion"

-William Wordsworth's 536 "Ode on Imitations of Immortality From Recollection of Early Childhood"

-Babes in Arms "My Funny Valentine" (love the Chet Baker and Nico covers)

[knarflj]

So far, scripture or Shakespeare. I've been thinking I need to branch out a bit, though.

 

Jenny

[Shuttlebug]

I'm slowly copying the New Testament, one book at a time.

[thesunshine]

My goal is to one day copy out a foreign language book with the original language on the left side of the page and English on the right. Having said that, so far I've only managed it with Le Petit Prince, which is a book for children! If anyone knows some great Italian language children's / young adult books I can try next let me know! (I purchased an Andrea Camilleri for this purpose but my Italian is nowhere near good enough yet to translate the Sicilian dialect!)

[dcwaites]

I often use the last paragraph in Darwin's Origin of Species. As a biologist, it has special meaning for me. It also shows that, even though he had his doubts about religion after his daughter died, he reconciled himself before he finished the book. And it is probably the most beautifully written piece of science writing there is.

[77kath]

La Rochefoucauld's Maxims. Usually pretty short. French words use more x's than English ones.

[Paddler]

I don't understand the concept here. Why do you copy another writer's work? Do you admire his style and wish to make yours more like his? (I 'm not being pejorative here; this is a perfectly legitimate thing to do.)

[Orpilorp]

Paddler,

 

Why copy another's work? Just for practice in order to improve one's handwriting. I love the feel of a good fountain pen on good paper, and sometimes I want to write and write even though I can think of little to write about, so at those times I just copy other writers' stuff such as:

 

Proverbs

The Beatitudes

English Poetry

The Harvard Sentences

 

Here's one of my favorites passages from (like him or not) one of America's favorite poets -

 

Pride will vanish

And glory will rot

But virtue lives

And cannot be forgot

-- Bob Dylan

[e-beth]

Paddler, I find it easier to focus on my handwriting if I am copying something rather than writing my own thoughts. I write much slower when I am practicing my handwriting and I start to get frustrated because my writing doesn't keep up with the speed of my thoughts. So, the copying is primarily for the purpose of improving my writing (handwriting or calligraphy). Also, if I am trying to memorize something, writing it out by hand several times helps me with the memorization process.

 

Recently, I have started copying Darwin's On the Origin of Species in order to practice my cursive italic. I also sometimes copy out Psalms or parables from the Bible. Sometimes I try to match my copywork to the season or holiday (on July 4, I copied the Gettysburg Address).

[Paddler]

Copying something out longhand is a good way to learn it. That I can understand.

 

I also do the things you folks are doing, only I use my own stuff. That way, if I come to a word or phrase that doesn't "sing" just right, I can change it. I think it is more fun that way, but "to each his dagnabbed, blond haired, blue-eyed own."

[StyloBug33]

When I was in High School (30 years ago) and wanted to improve my handwriting, I would write out sections of the World Book Encyclopedia. These days I write out poems by Robert Frost, passages from the Bible and funny quotes. I also like quotes by artists.

 

I really enjoy this. I find it relaxing and a good way to improve my handwriting.

[penrivers]

Short storys specially Borges, Hemingway, Bierce, etc.

[katerchen]

I don't understand the concept here. Why do you copy another writer's work? Do you admire his style and wish to make yours more like his? (I 'm not being pejorative here; this is a perfectly legitimate thing to do.)

 

For me it's a sort of therapy. And if my handwriting improves a bit in the process, that's just extra icing on the cake.

[Moruk]

The Devil's Dictionary

The Portable Curmudgeon

Mill's On Liberty

passages from Aeschylus, Tennyson, Hardy (especially)

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Herman Melville Moby Dick for yours truly.

 

Blocks of text appear in the Written Samples for my Ink Reviews.

 

His prose rolls along in a pleasant manner.

 

Bye,

S1

[Tojusi]

I tend to write song lyrics: quite often of song I know by heart. That way, I do not even have to look at source text but can focus on just writing the letter forms without much thought as to the content.

[Juun]

I tend to write song lyrics: quite often of song I know by heart. That way, I do not even have to look at source text but can focus on just writing the letter forms without much thought as to the content.

 

I do this as well, but mainly when I'm attempting to improve my writing speed. (If you try to write while you hear the song, you'll see what I mean.)

 

As for books, Lovecraft. Anything H.P. Lovecraft. Namely, though, "The Call of Cthulhu"​