penmanship

Apr. 30, 2009 — In December, 1925, Ernst F. Detterer published a brief article in the Chicago Schools Journal, in which he attacked modern cursive penmanship in general, and the Palmer Method in particular.

A. N. Palmer, at that time one of the most famous penmanship experts in America, replied graciously to Detterer, with a personal letter.

Ernst F. Detterer was a typographer, an amateur calligrapher, an instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago, and later a curator at the Newberry Library. In 1913 he studied briefly with Edward Johnston (a British calligrapher who tried to revive medieval lettering arts in the 20th century).

It seems unlikely that Detterer and Palmer would have had any connection at all, but here it is.

To the best of my knowledge, this letter by Palmer has never been published before. I found it listed in the Newberry Library catalog. It is a digital scan of a photocopy, of a “verifax reproduction (positive)” of the original typewritten letter. That’s quite a few layers of reproduction, so for easier reading you might want to read the transcription instead of the original.

Detterer’s article contains several blunders, and many factual errors. Palmer responded with humility, tact, and patience, but some of Palmer’s basic views on the history of penmanship were as erroneous as Detterer’s. (More on this later.)

Feb. 28, 2009 — Cross-writing is a technique for saving writing paper. It was used mostly in the 19th century. After a page of writing had been completed – or usually after both sides of a sheet were filled in – then the writer turned the page 90 degrees and continued, adding a second layer of text, perpendicular to the first. Cross-writing is surprisingly easy to read, as a reader’s mind naturally tunes out the irrelevant lines. (Further layers of text are possible, at other angles, but this reduces legibility very quickly.)

This is a sample of Charles Darwin’s cross-writing, from 1828.

And here is another sample of cross-writing — by my great-great grand-uncle, James Charles Andrews (1839-1886). He studied medicine and received a degree, but he never practiced medicine. He was a Quaker, a commissioned officer in the Civil War, a factory owner, and a banker. His handwriting seems, at first glance, like an example of “Spencerian scribbling” — but it’s actually the smooth, rapid hand of a mature writer, someone with a solid grounding in formal penmanship.

Many people disapproved of cross-writing. Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) wrote: “When you get to the end of a notesheet, and find you have more to say, take another piece of paper – a whole sheet, or a scrap, as the case may demand, but whatever you do, don’t cross! Remember the old proverb ‘Cross-writing makes cross-reading.’ ‘The old proverb?’ you say inquiringly. ‘How old?’ Well, not so very ancient, I must confess. In fact – I’m afraid I invented it while writing this paragraph.” (From: Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing, 1890.)