Handwriting in America: A Cultural History (Paperback)

by Professor Tamara Plakins Thornton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
It's so common to think of individual handwriting as distinctive that it's a surprise to learn that the notion of unique handwriting was unthinkable in America's colonial past. People learned a particular script, such as Court Hand or Round Hand, that reflected their gender, occupation, and status in life. A history of handwriting might seem like an obscure, academic subject, but this entertaining book smashes that assumption. Reading the story of how handwriting developed in the United States and its importance in society, may make you think twice about your penmanship the next time you pick up a pen. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
This elegant study again proves that, in the right hands, a narrow topic is an excellent window into broad issues of social structure, education and popular culture. Historian Thornton (Cultivating Gentlemen) not only packs plenty of Americana into her history of handwriting but also relates trends in this country to European developments. In pre-revolutionary America, writing was an important skill for the elite: learned people knew five to eight handwriting styles, and hand-copied publications allowed antigovernment materials and pornography to escape censorship. The Victorian era saw penmanship classes conducted like military drills, the cult of autograph collecting and the rise of writing skills among women ("fair Scribblerinas," said one male scoffer). Idiosyncrasies in handwriting came to be seen not as deplorable but as a mark of individual uniqueness; people hired experts to analyze the handwriting of prospective employees, business partners and spouses; and a contest for the handwriting revealing the "most interesting personality" drew 300,000 entries. Crossing into the 20th century, we see the struggle of graphology to attain scientific respectability, the rise and fall of the Palmer instructional method and the recent revival of calligraphy as an art form. Thornton's high-quality scholarship will satisfy exacting academic audiences, and her graceful prose will charm and entertain the general reader. Illustrations.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300074417
• ISBN-13: 978-0300074413
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,111 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Handwriting in America: A Cultural History , April 11, 2009

By	Royall Whitaker - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An interesting book, but it should have been titled "The Teaching of Handwriting in America". Also, it missed a kind of writing which I can't name, but know when I see it - for example, something like "California" on California auto license tags. It was taught in America, and it was the model in England for many years - a Life magazine article around 1950 showed such examples from the winners in an English schoolboy competition. (My father learned this style in a preparatory school in the South in the early 1900s, and one of our daughters-in-law was taught the same way.)
One reviewer adversely criticized this book for harping on, perhaps even imagining, sexism in the early teaching of handwriting, and I don't think the comment was deserved - I believe the author was accurately describing what was actually taught, and gave it no more space than is warranted.