Original English Roundhand

[caliken]

Between 1680 and 1740, writing masters in England produced many copy books in the hand known then as Roundhand. The original script was written with a quill cut to a very narrow point with a square tip. The style, with its continuous flow, produced natural loops on both ascenders and descenders and became very popular. In an attempt to have their work more widely used and copied, the writing masters utilised the technique of copperplate engraving to produce copybooks of their work. Such was the skill of the copperplate engravers, that they were able to smooth out any irregularities in the lettering, and the results are close to perfection as can be seen in work such as The Universal Penman, engraved and written in part, by George Bickham. The subtle differences or 'improvements' produced with a pointed engraver's burin, make the engraved copy virtually impossible to reproduce with an edged quill or nib. It then became necessary to develop the use of a pointed quill with sufficient flexibility to emulate the swelled stroke variations produced by the copperplate engravers.

 

This style of lettering, which had begun life as English Roundhand, had developed into widespread copybooks of engraved script. Nowadays, the version which comes closest to the ideal of the 18th century copybooks, is known as Engraver's or Engrosser's script. This script is drawn in much the same way as the engraver 'drew' the lettering into the copper with many twists and turns and is as close as possible to the 'Bickham' ideal. At its best, this carefully-crafted script is very beautiful and the result can be seen on the IAMPETH website video clips by Dr Joe Vitolo. IMHO his work is as close as it's possible to get to the 'Bickham' ideal. There is however, a handwritten version of this script which is valid in its own right and is produced in a single, flowing line based on the same copperplate engraving. This style of handwriting has become generally known as 'Copperplate'.

 

Sorry for the lengthy, historical introduction!

 

If you're still with me, my question is very simple. I've been studying this form of lettering for more years than I care to remember, and one thing has always bothered me. Does anyone know of the existence of a piece of original lettering in this style, before it was copied by an engraver and produced as a book? It's difficult to believe that not a single piece of original work has survived, but I've never seen or heard of one. Can anyone out there, help?

 

Ken

[HDoug]

I am following this thread with great interest. Hope someone can answer the question or post some examples. I'm very much interested in the writing of this period because of all the things that were happening during the period, and because one can read the original documents because the handwriting is clear, and because so much of it is... in English! Which means I can read it without a translation.

 

I've seen many examples of handwriting of the period, but like Ken, I'd like to see what the engraver was using to create the copperplate exemplar (if I understand Ken's post correctly).

 

Doug

[BBailey]

I, too, am interested in reading more about this style of handwriting. I have been intrigued by penmanship for many years and that was the start of my interest in fountain pens initially.

 

I look forward to more posts on this subject.

 

Bruce

[caliken]

Doug & Bruce

 

Thanks for your interest - let's hope that someone has the answer, and an example or two!

 

Ken

[publius]

Do you mean specifically a piece of writing done in preparation for a copybook, or simply any writing in this style? If the latter, I'm sure plenty of examples have survived. It must have been a tolerably common style before copybooks started being made of it, after all, so any large collection of handwritten documents from the period should contain examples. One such archive is in the Public Records Office in London : the documents of the old Church courts in Doctors' Commons, including for example some 84 tonnes of documents from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, dating from the late 1300s to 1858 — not just the compendia of wills, but death registers, depositions, bonds, commissions, records of proceedings, & all manner of material, much of it in English, & all of it (of course) hand-written. Talk to the archivists, & see if they won't let you look at some of the material dating from the period just before the copybooks began to be made, say 1650-1680.

Edited May 20, 2009 by publius

[dcwaites]

Do you mean specifically a piece of writing done in preparation for a copybook, or simply any writing in this style? If the latter, I'm sure plenty of examples have survived. It must have been a tolerably common style before copybooks started being made of it, after all, so any large collection of handwritten documents from the period should contain examples. One such archive is in the Public Records Office in London : the documents of the old Church courts in Doctors' Commons, including for example some 84 tonnes of documents from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, dating from the late 1300s to 1858 — not just the compendia of wills, but death registers, depositions, bonds, commissions, records of proceedings, & all manner of material, much of it in English, & all of it (of course) hand-written. Talk to the archivists, & see if they won't let you look at some of the material dating from the period just before the copybooks began to be made, say 1650-1680.

I know that the State Library of NSW has a large collection of manuscripts dating back to the First Fleet. I am sure that the British Museum Library will have an equivalent, and much more extensive, collection.

 

If there is a Printers' Guild archival library, they might even have manuscripts and the printed book?

 

No definite answers there, but some suggestions in addition to the excellent one made above.

 

 

[caliken]

publius & dcwaites,

 

Thanks for the information.

 

I am specifically interested in seeing to what extent the lettering with an edged quill nib, produced by the writing masters for production of their copybooks was 'improved' by the engraving process. It's clear that some alterations were made, and the lettering as it appeared as exemplars, must have been extremely difficult to use as a model for copying with the edged quill nib of the time - hence the eventual use of the flexible pointed nib. mimicking the burin. The examples in 'The Universal Penman' are truly wonderful - but they are engraved copies. The original writing as produced by masters like Snell, Bickham, Clark, Champion, Dove etc. etc. must have been superb in its own right, and it would be great to see an example, if indeed any exist.

Edited May 20, 2009 by caliken

[Randal6393]

Here is a link to an article that lists the major known writing masters and calligraphers of the period you are interested in, along with a list of the books they wrote. Not much, but perhaps a starting point.

[caliken]

Here is a link to an article that lists the major known writing masters and calligraphers of the period you are interested in, along with a list of the books they wrote. Not much, but perhaps a starting point.

 

Thanks for the link, Randal - fascinating reading.

 

Ken

 

[Bill Wolfe]

This is a really fascinating topic. I've been pondering for awhile on the odd state of affairs that so much of our knowledge of 17-18th century handwriting comes down through the filter of the engravers--and that their models neccesitated an entirely new approach to quill cutting and line variation. I'd love to see what the writing masters' actual hands looked like, but where are they? The next best thing may be the work of professional secretaries from the period. Here's a snippet from one of General Amherst's notorious letters recommending distribution of pox-infested blankets to the Indians besieging Fort Pitt.

 

http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amher..._41_114_fn.jpeg

 

I'm guessing this was writtien by Amherst's military secretary. It's far more regular than other letters posted on the site, and the writing is different from other examples of Amherst's correspondence. I'll go out on a limb and suggest it was written with an edged pen--note the thickened upstrokes of the upper-right quadrants of the letter "o." I'd love to see more examples of this type. Any thoughts on where to look for them?

[Randal6393]

Here is a link to an article that lists the major known writing masters and calligraphers of the period you are interested in, along with a list of the books they wrote. Not much, but perhaps a starting point.

 

Thanks for the link, Randal - fascinating reading.

 

Ken

 

Indeed. Started me wondering how I might obtain some of the books on the list. And how many of them were on line.

 

Seems i read a short article on Copperplate reproduction years back that said the masters wrote on copper with acids in mirror-writing to create the engraved master plates. That seems nothing short of amazing to me.

 

Enjoy,

[publius]

Seems i read a short article on Copperplate reproduction years back that said the masters wrote on copper with acids in mirror-writing to create the engraved master plates. That seems nothing short of amazing to me.

 

Enjoy,

Well, it's not impossible. An engraver working from a handwritten original would have to copy it over in mirror-writing, not exactly an easy problem. A master penman who was very sure of himself, & had learnt to write in this fashion, might indeed try to etch his writing directly into the plate. Certainly errors would be well-nigh impossible to correct, but the same is true of engraving (the best solution is to burnish out the mark & try again), & it would save one step in which errors could be introduced. I know I have considered employing this technique myself, or else cutting into a wax mask & then etching (not unlike the process for making printed circuit boards), to simplify plate-printing.

Edited May 21, 2009 by publius

[publius]

I am specifically interested in seeing to what extent the lettering with an edged quill nib, produced by the writing masters for production of their copybooks was 'improved' by the engraving process. It's clear that some alterations were made, and the lettering as it appeared as exemplars, must have been extremely difficult to use as a model for copying with the edged quill nib of the time - hence the eventual use of the flexible pointed nib. mimicking the burin. The examples in 'The Universal Penman' are truly wonderful - but they are engraved copies. The original writing as produced by masters like Snell, Bickham, Clark, Champion, Dove etc. etc. must have been superb in its own right, and it would be great to see an example, if indeed any exist.

Might some of these materials have been preserved at Stationers' Hall, as part of the copyright registry?

[Lozzic]

This book available on line http://www.archive.org/details/penmanshipofthe00dayluoft called Penmanship of the XVI, XVII & XVIIIth centuries : a series of typical examples from English and foreign writing books appears to have two examples (50 and 51) listed under the name Roundhand. Those two examples seem to be more like what would have been executed with a quill, I am not sure whether there may be other interesting examples in that book. I too have wondered about the difference between original Roundhand and Copperplate but unfortunately examples seem far and few between.

 

[egremont]

I sent you a personal message but I'm struggling to get access to my messages so could you please reply (if so inclined!) in this thread.

[caliken]

I sent you a personal message but I'm struggling to get access to my messages so could you please reply (if so inclined!) in this thread.

 

To the best of my knowledge, the style of handwriting taught in British schools in the 40s 50s and 60s was influenced by English Roundhand, known as 'Copperplate'. I don't remember it having a specific name. This now, has largely become replaced by a form of italic where ascenders and descenders are straight instead of looped.

 

In the USA a different route was followed through the pioneering work of Platt Rogers Spencer and his first copybook was published in 1855. This style came to dominate virtually all handwriting taught in the USA, being further developed by Austin Norman Palmer around 35 years later. It would appear to be still the dominant style throughout the USA today although italic has its share of devotees.

 

I must stress that I am not an authority on the history of handwriting in general, and would be obliged if the more erudite among us, can "put me straight", if any of the above is incorrect!

 

Ken

 

[Maria]

Dear Caliken;

 

I found a lot of lovely calligraphy examples, with the authored date in the 1700-1800's.

 

www.u.s. library of congress

 

Go to "Home" and enter Calligraphy --tick prints and photography; US Library of Congress Web site; US Library of Congress Catalog online

 

I found a 1813 Birth and Baptismal certificate for Esther Peterin;

 

[Vorschrift]

Meylen, Johannes, calligrapher. | 1751. | still image

[Vorschrift]

Rassmann, Heinrich, calligrapher. | [1709] | still image

[Vorschrift]

Rassmann, Heinrich, calligrapher. | [1709] | still image

 

Paulus berufen zum Apostel ...

[1795?] | still image

 

 

Alphabet of 24 Elaberate... In rare books collection 1719

 

Ich Jacob Meily, bin von ...

[ca. 1774] | still image

 

[Knight on horseback - an example of the elaborate ornamentation found in books of calligraphy in the 18th C.]

ca. 1722. | still image

 

Title page, with calligrahic ornamentation, of John Jenkins, The art of writing, Cambridge, printed for the Author

1813. | still image

 

Thomas Jefferson, July 27, 1821, Autobiography Draft Fragment, January 6 through July 27

 

William Fairfax to George Washington, July 26, 1755, with Postscript from Fairfax Ladies

 

Words and Deeds in American History

Enclosure, John Hancock to George Washington concerning the reading of the Declaration of Independence to the Revolutionary army, 4 July 1776.

(George Washington Papers)

These are 'letters' not published books.

 

 

I'm sure there are other samples.

 

Respectfully,

Maria

 

 

 

 

Between 1680 and 1740, writing masters in England produced many copy books in the hand known then as Roundhand. The original script was written with a quill cut to a very narrow point with a square tip. The style, with its continuous flow, produced natural loops on both ascenders and descenders and became very popular. In an attempt to have their work more widely used and copied, the writing masters utilised the technique of copperplate engraving to produce copybooks of their work. Such was the skill of the copperplate engravers, that they were able to smooth out any irregularities in the lettering, and the results are close to perfection as can be seen in work such as The Universal Penman, engraved and written in part, by George Bickham. The subtle differences or 'improvements' produced with a pointed engraver's burin, make the engraved copy virtually impossible to reproduce with an edged quill or nib. It then became necessary to develop the use of a pointed quill with sufficient flexibility to emulate the swelled stroke variations produced by the copperplate engravers.

 

This style of lettering, which had begun life as English Roundhand, had developed into widespread copybooks of engraved script. Nowadays, the version which comes closest to the ideal of the 18th century copybooks, is known as Engraver's or Engrosser's script. This script is drawn in much the same way as the engraver 'drew' the lettering into the copper with many twists and turns and is as close as possible to the 'Bickham' ideal. At its best, this carefully-crafted script is very beautiful and the result can be seen on the IAMPETH website video clips by Dr Joe Vitolo. IMHO his work is as close as it's possible to get to the 'Bickham' ideal. There is however, a handwritten version of this script which is valid in its own right and is produced in a single, flowing line based on the same copperplate engraving. This style of handwriting has become generally known as 'Copperplate'.

 

Sorry for the lengthy, historical introduction!

 

If you're still with me, my question is very simple. I've been studying this form of lettering for more years than I care to remember, and one thing has always bothered me. Does anyone know of the existence of a piece of original lettering in this style, before it was copied by an engraver and produced as a book? It's difficult to believe that not a single piece of original work has survived, but I've never seen or heard of one. Can anyone out there, help?

 

Ken

Edited May 24, 2009 by Maria

[caliken]

Maria,

 

This is an enormous resource of material. So far, I've been able to see only a fraction of the entries as thumbnails, but this is a large collection with many fine historical examples.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Lozzic]

I have been looking for examples of Roundhand with an edged quill but have had very little success. The best thing I have found so far is on the National Archives website, there are some interesting handwriting samples that seem to be in the Roundhand style in the 18th Century section and a few similar styles in the 17th Century section, though they are definitely not of the standard that calligraphers would have written: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeog...ractice.htm#top

 

[tipstricks]

If needed I've found some high resolution images of the US library congress cited by Maria (almost 5 mb each file):

 

Birth and baptismal certificate for Esther Peterin

http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3b400...00/3b40094u.tif

 

Johannes Meylen. LOT 10257, no. 2

http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3g000...00/3g02771u.tif

 

Johannes Meylen. LOT 10257, no. 3

http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3g000...00/3g02774u.tif

 

Heinrich Rassmann. LOT 10257, no. 4

http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3g000...00/3g02772u.tif

 

Heinrich Rassmann, LOT 10257, no. 6

http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3g000...00/3g02773u.tif

 

Ich Jacob Meily, LOT 10257, no. 1

http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3b500...00/3b52931u.tif