Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Michael Dirda Like many people over the age of 40, I still have a callused knobby excrescence on the third finger of my right hand, the place where pencils and ballpoints and fountain pens have been resting ever since I first began to learn the Palmer method of cursive handwriting. Kids no longer have this "writer's bump," since cursive isn't seriously taught any more. For the most part, young people born into the computer age can, by focusing hard, just about sign their names in longhand, but otherwise they rely almost entirely on printing or, more and more often, keyboarding. Today Truman Capote would have to quip: "That's not writing, that's word processing." Sad to say, I just typed the above paragraph on a laptop. No handwriting implements were involved in the production of those sentences. I do feel mildly guilty about this: In four broken coffee cups scattered artfully around my desk are a half-dozen fountain pens -- among them an old Esterbrook (a gift from the writer Glenway Wescott), a Pelikan with an italic nib, a handsome Namiki retractable -- and scores of Bics, rollerballs, felt tips and gel markers, as well as innumerable pencils, most of them with the names of museums, universities or other cultural sites etched on their sides. As it happens, I do use most of these hand tools of the writer's trade, usually the pencils, when scribbling notes in the margins of books I'm reviewing. Nonetheless, so poor is my script that these notes often turn indecipherable even to me after just a few hours. It's seriously frustrating to read: "The really important point is amxiwyby sowkymx, rather than roeqcz or kfghi." As Kitty Burns Florey points out in her highly enjoyable Script and Scribble, clear and readable handwriting does matter: "The TV drama ER often tackles the issue: in one 2007 episode, Dr. Izzie Stevens tells the interns she's supervising, 'Penmanship saves lives! Is that a 7, or is that a 9? If I have to ask myself that in the middle of an emergency, your patient is dead. You killed him. With your handwriting. Think about that!' " In contrast to medical cacography, which can kill us, calligraphy -- that is, "beautiful writing" -- simply takes our breath away. The novelist John Crowley, for instance, is almost as well known for the elegance of his handwriting as for the elegance of his prose -- which is why a special edition of Little, Big sold out so quickly: Subscribers could choose a favorite passage, and Crowley would personally copy it out for them. Once, following a lecture by the professional scribe Sheila Waters, I managed to snag the big pieces of paper upon which she casually drew her magnificent O's, A's and M's. Even these throwaways were so striking that I had them framed and hung on a wall of my apartment. Script and Scribble actually mentions Waters, as well as one of her most famous commissions: a handwritten and illuminated copy of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood. But a mention is almost all we get, and before long Florey is on to some other aspect of handwriting practice and history. Because she's witty and often endearingly autobiographical (she includes illustrations from her third-grade writing workbook), the reader is happy to follow her into any byway of penmanship. Still, this account of "the rise and fall of handwriting" never aims to be more than a breezily enjoyable introduction. Those seriously intrigued by the subject will want to go on to the books that Florey mentions, in particular Edward Johnston's classic Writing & Illuminating & Lettering and Wilfred Blunt's Sweet Roman Hand: Five Hundred Years of Italic Cursive Script. That said, Script and Scribble really is charming and does offer chapters on such matters as the origin of letter forms, the development of the pen and pencil, and the evolution of various schools of handwriting practice in America. In our history the great names are Platt Rogers Spencer, whose much admired script will be familiar from the distinctive Coca-Cola logo, and A.N. Palmer, whose methods for teaching cursive dominated the lives of elementary school students for most of the last century. Palmer himself learned from a writing master named George Gaskell, author of several practical works, among them Gaskell's Compendium of Forms, Educational, Social, Legal and Commercial. That desirable volume includes sample letters such as this delightful one from a concerned mother to her daughter away at school: "I have been somewhat alarmed because your last two letters do not run in that strain of unaffected piety as formerly. What, my dear, is the reason? Does virtue appear unpleasant to you? Are you resolved to embark in the fashionable follies of a gay, unthinking world?" Am I alone in regretting the disappearance of such elegantly corseted prose? Probably. One chapter of Script & Scribble may seem slightly out of place: A longish account of graphology, the interpretation of character through the study of how one shapes letters and words. Florey seems to half believe in this pseudo-science, even as she recognizes how authorities pooh-pooh its supposed findings and predictions: She notes, for instance, that "the British Psychological Society ranks graphology alongside astrology: both possess 'zero validity' in determining personality." My favorite chapter, that on "Writing By Hand in a Digital Age," opens with several pages about contemporary novelists who still use pens for at least their initial drafts: Mary Gordon, Paul Auster, J.K. Rowling, Toni Morrison ("pencil and yellow pad"), Joyce Carol Oates, John Irving, Patrick Leigh Fermor, William Boyd, Jim Harrison and Wendell Berry, among others. Even the prolific Stephen King likes to write in longhand: "He was forced to do so when sitting at the computer became painful after he was struck by a car in 1999, and continues to prefer it." In this chapter, Florey also discusses the value of manuscripts and rough drafts in deepening our understanding of the published poem or novel. Today, though, she concludes that the only place where extended writing by hand commonly continues is in the keeping of diaries. While Florey clearly (and rightly) admires Portland, Ore., where the schools teach italic handwriting, she ends by advocating a stripped-down blend of italic and printing as a possible ideal for classrooms. I wish. Alas, as she herself writes, "In the world of incessant testing and 'No Child Left Behind,' there's scant time for handwriting instruction. For the most part, beautiful penmanship now lives on the planet where people gather around the piano and sing, watch Gunsmoke on TV, and go to major-league baseball games in the afternoon: it's the planet of nostalgia." Who would disagree? But some of us happen to love that old planet. After reading Script and Scribble, I feel like digging out my beat-up calligraphy manuals by Tom Gourdie, Marie Angel and Lloyd J. Reynolds. Of course, I also need to clean out the dried ink from my italic pen. But before you know it, even Ludovico Arrighi -- the great Renaissance master of italic -- will be envying my p's and q's.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review

"This is a book every writer would love, a curio cabinet on the art and act of writing."
- Amy Tan, author of Saving Fish from Drowning

"What in God's name has happened to penmanship? It's easy to blame the computer, but, as Kitty Burns Florey demonstrates in her thoughtful, witty, and sensible book, the story goes far deeper than that. It touches on the way we think, the way we write, and the way we lead our lives. Read Script and Scribble and be enlightened."
- Ben Yagoda, author of If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It!

"[A] pithy account of the history of handwriting...Florey makes a solid case for handwriting as a social indicator, and her affection for its art is thoughtful and aesthetically informed."
- Albert Mobilio, Bookforum

"...a witty and readable (and fetchingly illustrated and glossed) excursion through the history of handwriting..."
- Cullen Murphy, The Wall Street Journal

"[H]ighly enjoyable...witty and often endearingly autobiographical."
- Michael Dirda, Washington Post

"[A] charming, illustrated eulogy to a craft that's fast losing its place in the modern world."
- Financial Times

"Florey's argument is nostalgic yet pragmatic. 'It seems wrong,' she says, 'when something beautiful, useful, and historically important vanishes.' Charmingly composed and handsomely presented, Script and Scribble just might provoke a handwriting revival."
- Boston Globe

"Florey lovingly traces the history of handwriting, from its ancient birth to its imminent demise."
- Sam Anderson, New York Magazine

"[A] winsome mix of memoir and call to arms...an entertaining history."
- Editor's Choice, Chicago Tribune

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 225 pages
• Publisher: Melville House (January 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933633670
• ISBN-13: 978-1933633671
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,711 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Insight Into Why I Can No Longer Write, February 2, 2009

By	W. Stewart (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kitty Burns Florey's "Script & Scribble" is as hilarious as it is timely. With handwriting currently caught in the push-pull between nostalgic yearning and the Internet Age, "write or type?" is a debate that many of us are constantly engaged in internally. Take something as mundane as a thank you letter. You want to convey gratitude and sincerity, two things which do not necessarily summon to mind Times New Roman and a laserjet printer. And yet, as a result of years of banging away on your QWERTY, your penmanship is borderline illegible. And should you sacrifice the speed of email for the formality of snail mail? Burns Florey not only tackles these everyday dilemmas, but adds her own mix of history and humor, making "Script & Scribble" a delight to read. I highly recommend.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is the Pen Mightier Than the Keyboard?, February 21, 2009

By	takingadayoff "takingadayoff" (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

How much is there to say about handwriting? More than you might think.

Kitty Burns Florey has taken what seems like a topic for a short magazine article and come up with quite a browsable book in Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting. She conducts a quick tour of writing, from cuneiform pictograms made with a stylus in wet clay up to handwriting methods taught in schools today. There's a survey of pens and pencils, as well as of typewriters.

Handwriting in popular culture, handwriting analysis, calligraphy, and doodling all come under Florey's scrutiny. She has done a considerable amount of research for the book, but also relies on her own experiences for many examples. Apparently she is quite a pack rat, because she shares many handwriting samples from her own experiences, starting in first grade.

Although this is not an academic book, there are many side notes to elaborate on points made in the text. You don't often see side notes, which are located in the margins unlike the more traditionally placed footnotes or endnotes. The wide margins also leave room for lots of graphics.

Florey, who has also written about diagramming sentences in her previous book Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences, is not a dinosaur who is clinging to the past. She accepts and embraces computers and blackberries, but wonders if keyboarding can completely replace handwriting. Students who take notes on laptops tend to transcribe class lectures verbatim. Students who take handwritten notes learn to evaluate while listening so they can pick out the noteworthy bits to write down. But most of us can type faster than we can write, and for a longer time. Both writing and typing have their merits.

In the end, Florey advocates a best of both worlds approach, in which children would learn to write legibly, in addition to learning keyboarding skills. She suggests an italic script that is a sort of cross between printing and handwriting. She sees no reason that children should learn to print and then to write. Why not just learn one method?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lukewarm praise, May 23, 2009

By	Chambolle (Bainbridge Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews

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As an avid fountain pen collector, this book immediately drew me in. The art of writing by hand is fast becoming a thing of the past -- forget about the virtues of fine penmanship, much less the craft of making fine pens instead of mass produced plastic things with colored goop in them. People yammer endlessly on cell phones, text in code, pound away at keyboards -- or eliminate the handwork entirely and dictate in dull monotone at their 'voice recognition software.' Writing, both the physical act of creating script and the art of stringing words together in complete sentences, is fast becoming a thing of the past. I expected this book would be a thoughtful essay on this topic.

This book does include a brief history of the development of writing and an interesting discussion of the various teaching methods and penmanship styles of the 18th through 20th centuries. There are some witty observations about the effect of the personal computer on our lives, especially on our (un)willingness and (in)ability to put pen to paper on a day to day basis. There is a discussion of the quirky "graphology" movement. All entertaining, if not extremely enlightening.

But the book also suffers from some serious flaws.

First, sad and sorry production values. As others have noted, there are some glaring glitches like text printed on top of graphics, footnotes misnumbered, typos, the absence of an index. One also would think that a book extolling the virtues of fine handwriting would also be a finely made book. This one is printed on cheap paper and has that "fresh out of a software package" look.

Second, some very thin content. The discussion of the history and current status of the fountain pen is superficial at best and inaccurate at worst. Sure, the fountain pen is not exactly mainstream. But there has been a modern resurgence of interest in fine writing instruments, both vintage and current production. This book devotes two pages to the development of the fountain pen, including an extended anecdote about an ad for the Sheaffer Snorkel on the "I Love Lucy" show. The author devotes just over one page to ink, which concludes with the observation that ink is "an artifact of another world," available only at art supply stores for use by artists and calligraphers. The author seems blissfully ignorant of the resurgence of interest in fountain pens and the revival of many of the classic pen manufacturers.

The title of the review sums up my impression of the book. Much to admire, much that disappoints.