Improving Handwriting For Everyday Purposes - Getty-Dubay, Fred Eager, Palmer Method Or Spencerian?

[Verdict]

Ive read and learned the styles in write now, Fred eagers book, pickering's website on chancery italic, as well as read and practiced the spencerian hand using new American Spencerian compendium as a guide. All are great resources. Italic and spencerian are great, but I have come to prefer something less ostentatious, less showy. For this, monoline business cursive such as Palmer method is great. Its so much easier to write than italic due to not having to lift pen off paper as much. Its more convenient than Spencerian in that you dont have to lug around a dip pen whenever you want to write. Monoline cursive can even be done with a ballpoint or pencil but fountain pen (fine to extra fine) looks best to me. Also instead of Palmer I recommend learning monoline business cursive from the book modern business penmanship by e c mills. Very similar to Palmer but more beautiful. Once you really learn it well, you will see how it it exudes an understated elegance.

 

Really helpful, thank you.

 

Lots of posts in here recommending the Palmer Method, so it looks like I'll be trying that method first.

 

I have a set of Spencerian copybooks I bought of Amazon, so after I learn or try the Palmer Method I might give Spencerian a try.

[Brianm_14]

After several years of watching my handwriting steadily degenerate due to severe arthritic issues with my thumb, I had surgery that was little less than miraculous in it's result. I did have to retrain my hand to write, however, as I had gotten to the point where I could not sign my name legibly nor even illegibly without great pain.. After some physical therapy, I decided to use rather than just look at my brloved fountain pens.

 

The only book I'd recommend is Rosemary Sassoon's Improve your Hand-Writing ( part of the famous Teach Yourself Book Series). Ms. Sassoon is the only person to have earned a doctorate based on studying how people -specifically children- learn to write. She and her co-author ( most recently, Gunnlaugur Se Briem) devote the book to helping you develop a form of italic/cursive writing that is your own style: clear, quick, sensible, and economical in movement. It is the most impressive approach I've seen. No lovely but senseless flourishes here, nor this or that school. What works is kept. Letter combinations are joined only if it makes sense to your hand and brain.

 

You can find the book on Amazon. Buy the most recent edition. She has been revising this for decades.

 

Do buy a good pen, one or two you really like and use well. I find Indo my best writing with a Parker 51( a vintage pen) or a Platinum 3776 with a Lamy 2000 a runner up -all fine nibs. And good inks, too!

 

But Rosemary Sassoon beat all the rest hollow, and I have all the books mentioned here, which I tried, and found very hard, before I found her book. She alone worked with me, and didn't impose very much on me at all. She'll explain her logic, based on her studying how children learn to write and a careful application of hand ergonomics. The most you have to invest is a few dollars.

 

I am shocked no-one mentioned her. She lead you to developing a clear, personal hand that is attractive and yours. But it won't likely satisfy this who want a calligraphic style. I wanted to write clearly

and finally in an adult hand I wasn't ashamed of. She gave me that, or rather, help me develop that for myself.

[bobje]

Fred Eager and Getty/Dubay were students of the Reed College/Lloyd Reynolds/Robert Palladino school of calligraphy, which focuses on italic. The point of this hand is legibility, elegance, and simplicity. Instructors like Tom Gourdie adapted this hand for simple teaching, and although Im not familiar with Sassoon, her exemplars make it appear that her hand is based in italic. Italic hands rely on a flat, blade-like nib, although the forms also work well in mono line.

 

Copperplate / Engrossers / Roundhand is a formal, elegant, and labor-intensive hand designed for a flexible pointed nib. Spencerian is an American outgrowth of this, as is Zanerian. Palmer and business cursive are further and more extensive extensions. They feature far more ornate and decorative letter forms, very different than italic.

 

When I read that cursive is dying, I agree with Inga and Dubay, who once wrote that if elementary school students just started with italic and then built on it, the hand could serve them throughout their lives. Instead, for decades, our American schools first taught block printing, and then switched to some form of cursive, confusing everyone. My recommendation would be to start with italic or foundational, which is another simple, basic, and elegant script and invest time in more decorative hands later.

[ehemem]

A point of clarification: Inga Dubay is the name of one person and co-author with Barbara Getty of the Italic handwriting books. Both of these people are accomplished calligraphers.

[Inky.Fingers]

Prints, italics and cursive is synonymous for me. The only difference is the use of different types of pen.

 

There are many difference between the scripts. The letter forms also differ. Taken engrosser script and simplify with just a ball point pen, and minus any flourishing...You get very pretty prints.

 

If you take italic and written with a ball point pen, simplify it, round the edges, it looks like prints.

 

Now connect the individual letters....Now it is cursive.

 

Wow! Take you to the next level, use a nice stub and learn to use the edges correctly, you can get back to italic and cursive italic.

 

Use a fine pointed pen, you can achieve a Business Penmanship, and with a flex pen, Spencerian...Wow! You are doing great! Use a dip pen, there you go back to Engrossed script.

 

FABULOUS journey eh?

 

Whatever you want to achieve, takes time, patient, and practice.

 

No matter what book you follow...Follow with all your heart!

[MyPenAndI]

I highly recommend especially to you Michael Sully's book "The Art Of Cursive Penmanship". I have some thoughts here on my initial interaction with this volume as I prepare my 2019 Journal and Diary. I find this workbook particularly pleasant because it teaches a universal technique but does not limit itself (or you) to one style or another. So long as it is cursive penmanship you seek to improve, Sully accurately declares that no matter which particular style you choose, in a room of 30 students using the same technique on a daily basis, you will discover 30 completely different results, each of which is legible and high standard penmanship.

 

I was taught cursive penmanship using what was the rage of the day The Palmer Method. Over several decades, my handwriting has suffered terribly. I chose to be tutored to repair, refine, and improve my handwriting--specifically with the fountain pen. As a young student, I progressed to the point that my teacher gently moved me into practicing Spencerian Script handwriting. In both, a unique and distinguishable handwriting "identity" developed similar patterns. Not because the techniques were similar (although they were), but rather because of the hand containing the pen--"the penholder". In a well mannered cursive handwriting, every writer will present with unique characteristics in their letter forming, connecting, speed and spacial distance across the page. I personally believe this to be so very true that this is one reason the art of handwriting has suffered so in the past few decades. Individuals became as recognizable by their handwriting as with their fingerprints. Many police detectives of the day have attested to this. Some of the style you will develop comes from your posture, the size of your hands, the relation between your wrist and your elbow...uncontrollable factors. Angle, speed, spacing and letter forming? That is slow, patient practice that only you control. Discipline, determination, and intentional success lie entirely with YOUR control. Mine will be different.

 

I hope this helps you on your handwriting journey. It is truly an amazing adventure! And, besides,

 

Writing Is FUN!

 

 

[FOUR X FOUR]

I have essential tremors

[Verdict]

After several years of watching my handwriting steadily degenerate due to severe arthritic issues with my thumb, I had surgery that was little less than miraculous in it's result. I did have to retrain my hand to write, however, as I had gotten to the point where I could not sign my name legibly nor even illegibly without great pain.. After some physical therapy, I decided to use rather than just look at my brloved fountain pens.

 

The only book I'd recommend is Rosemary Sassoon's Improve your Hand-Writing ( part of the famous Teach Yourself Book Series). Ms. Sassoon is the only person to have earned a doctorate based on studying how people -specifically children- learn to write. She and her co-author ( most recently, Gunnlaugur Se Briem) devote the book to helping you develop a form of italic/cursive writing that is your own style: clear, quick, sensible, and economical in movement. It is the most impressive approach I've seen. No lovely but senseless flourishes here, nor this or that school. What works is kept. Letter combinations are joined only if it makes sense to your hand and brain.

 

You can find the book on Amazon. Buy the most recent edition. She has been revising this for decades.

 

Do buy a good pen, one or two you really like and use well. I find Indo my best writing with a Parker 51( a vintage pen) or a Platinum 3776 with a Lamy 2000 a runner up -all fine nibs. And good inks, too!

 

But Rosemary Sassoon beat all the rest hollow, and I have all the books mentioned here, which I tried, and found very hard, before I found her book. She alone worked with me, and didn't impose very much on me at all. She'll explain her logic, based on her studying how children learn to write and a careful application of hand ergonomics. The most you have to invest is a few dollars.

 

I am shocked no-one mentioned her. She lead you to developing a clear, personal hand that is attractive and yours. But it won't likely satisfy this who want a calligraphic style. I wanted to write clearly

and finally in an adult hand I wasn't ashamed of. She gave me that, or rather, help me develop that for myself.

 

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

Fred Eager and Getty/Dubay were students of the Reed College/Lloyd Reynolds/Robert Palladino school of calligraphy, which focuses on italic. The point of this hand is legibility, elegance, and simplicity. Instructors like Tom Gourdie adapted this hand for simple teaching, and although Im not familiar with Sassoon, her exemplars make it appear that her hand is based in italic. Italic hands rely on a flat, blade-like nib, although the forms also work well in mono line.

 

Copperplate / Engrossers / Roundhand is a formal, elegant, and labor-intensive hand designed for a flexible pointed nib. Spencerian is an American outgrowth of this, as is Zanerian. Palmer and business cursive are further and more extensive extensions. They feature far more ornate and decorative letter forms, very different than italic.

 

When I read that cursive is dying, I agree with Inga and Dubay, who once wrote that if elementary school students just started with italic and then built on it, the hand could serve them throughout their lives. Instead, for decades, our American schools first taught block printing, and then switched to some form of cursive, confusing everyone. My recommendation would be to start with italic or foundational, which is another simple, basic, and elegant script and invest time in more decorative hands later.

 

Wow! I just learned something cool about handwriting history today.

 

From what I'm reading here, italic seems like a good foundation to start on as far as improving my handwriting goes. I did say practicality was key in my original post, and italic seems to fit this description better than the Palmer method. Eager, Getty/Dubay and Sassoon - it looks like I have more than enough names to get started.

[bogiesan]

I had tremendous success with the Gunnlauger and Sassoon’s collaborative book. I needed better legibility and day-to-day (hour-to-hour) consistency. Their instructions and drills were concise and easy and produced quick results for me. The loftier italics and calligraphic styles and flourishes of the more advanced or older business hands were of no interest to me.

 

Briem has a free pdf here:

https://briem.net/8/2/205.html

 

Forget amazon! You can order their book from your local independent bookseller.

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/improve-your-handwriting-rosemary-sassoon/1102828027

 

My late but superficially helpful suggestions:

 

https://briem.net

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/michelleno/handwriting-for-adults

 

https://www.nala.ie/sites/default/files/publications/better_handwriting_for_adults.pdf

 

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quickly-improve-handwriting-fantastic-resources/

[A Smug Dill]

Instead, for decades, our American schools first taught block printing, and then switched to some form of cursive, confusing everyone. My recommendation would be to start with italic or foundational, which is another simple, basic, and elegant script and invest time in more decorative hands later.

Do keep in mind what is required and/or expected, by the 'powers that be', when someone is filling out official forms (from international passenger arrival cards, to application forms for any form of social benefit or identity document, or opening a bank account, and so on) in English, either in the US or abroad. I think schools have a primary responsibility for teaching children and young adults the skills to operate in contemporary society.

[Verdict]

I just ordered a copy of Sassoon's Improve Your Handwriting.

 

Write-Now! consistently gets better reviews on just about every single website I can find it online, but I was able to get a fantastic deal on Sassoon's book.

 

Now the waiting game begins, but I'll be prepared with my Pilot Varsity.

[Zdenek]

For completeness:

F. W. Tamblyn's Home Instructor in Penmanship

S. A. Ziller - At Home Artistic Penwork, Book One - Five.