Writing desks of old

[ParramattaPaul]

26 minutes ago, W Mitchell said:

In the days of pen, ink, ledger books and the like sloping desks were quite common. I have a work desk/cabinet which would would have been seen in a small busines such as a general store, grocers or similar.

 

The lid swings down to give a sloping writing area.

 

That's a very nice and compact desk.  Thanks for showing it.

[W Mitchell]

Schoolboys had their own sloping desks in the classroom. This one comes from a prestigious private school in the Southern Highlands of N.S.W.

 

Complete with wooden dip pen, pencil and a inkwell. The lid lifts up to reveal a storage area for books etc.

 

 

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, W Mitchell said:

Schoolboys had their own sloping desks in the classroom. This one comes from a prestigious private school in the Southern Highlands of N.S.W.

 

Complete with wooden dip pen, pencil and a inkwell. The lid lifts up to reveal a storage area for books etc.

 

 

My not so prestigious government school had the two side by side version which, for me a lefthander, was not a great experience.

[AAAndrew]

One reason for the slope is that the way you hold a quill or steel pen is at a lower angle than how you hold a fountain pen or ball point pen. You were also expected to use more of your arm in the movement of the pen, and not just the fingers. Both of these are slightly more comfortable on a sloped surface. You also can see the letters, to have a better view how you are forming them, a bit better on a sloped surface. Once steel pens came in, and office desks became more of a mixed-use surface, you're not just a clerk entering figures into a book all day, for example, then a flat surface was more practical. 

 

Generally, when writing with a quill or steel dip pen, your paper did not sit straight to the line of the desk (see picture below). It was held at an angle. This allowed for both tines of the pen to sit flat on the surface of the paper with equal pressure while also keeping the angle of the slant of the penmanship. This means that the actual slope of the paper when writing wasn't quite as steep as it looks when approaching the writing slope head-on. 

 

Just some things to think about as you try and use a writing slope with more modern writing implements.