Looking for Victorian and Edwardian handwriting practice books

[TheFountainPenOfYouth]

Hello,

 

I work with a lot of historical handwriting from the Victorian and Edwardian period and I am looking for a workbook or practice book from that era. I am not really looking for any fancy Copperplate or Spencerian scripts. As a historian, I have seen the handwriting of at least a hundred different people from the era, mostly British royalty and politicians, and I rarely if ever see anything closely resembling those scripts being used in their correspondence.

 

Should I try Vere Foster?

[Arkanabar]

I only ask because it's the only resource I know:  Have you tried the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting ( iampeth.com )?  They have a pretty good collection of old books on penmanship.

[Mercian]

On 4/24/2024 at 12:55 AM, TheFountainPenOfYouth said:

mostly British royalty and politicians, and I rarely if ever see anything closely resembling those scripts being used in their correspondence.

Well, as Copperplate/Spencerian were the hands that were beaten into taught to/expected of the underlings/functionaries who were preparing official/commercial records, are you honestly surprised that you have found that their Overlords didn’t write in those hands?

Those people were issuing orders, not complying with them 😉😁

 

That said, learning Vere Foster ‘Civil Service’ script is a good place to start, and the aforementioned IAMPETH.com is an absolutely fantastic resource for other scripts/hands of the period