The visual representation of schemes of teaching cursive handwriting in Britain by Mauricio Villamayor

The visual representation of schemes of teaching cursive handwriting in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century: A descriptive and analytical study

Mauricio Villamayor MA Book Design Department of Typography & Graphic Communication University of Reading, 2017

To Fernando, for all your love and support.

acknowledgement I would like to thank professor Sue Walker for her generous help and guidance on this dissertation. Word count: 12.344 All images reproduced on this dissertation are from the collection of the British Library or The Department of Typography & Graphic Communication of the University of Reading unless stated otherwise.

Abstract The following dissertation describes and analyses different documents to determine the main characteristics of the visual representation of schemes of teaching cursive handwriting in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century. It also establishes connections among publications, drawing attention to how certain design features of some materials influenced later publications about handwriting. Characteristics are categorised and described in three groups: type of material; format and production; and design and layout. The latter had been proven the most relevant, mainly because some materials started to disregard the use of guide lines, arguably allowing children to develop their handwriting at their pace.

Content Introduction 9 Terminology 11 Cursive handwriting in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century 13 Handwriting in the nineteenth century 13 Handwriting in twentieth century 18

Research methods 21 Visual characteristics of cursive handwriting schemes 23 Visual characteristics of Copperplate 23 Howitt’s National School of Progressive Copybooks 23 The Model Copybooks 24 Visual characteristics of Civil Service 25 Vere Foster Writing Copybooks - Palmerston edition 25 Vere Foster’s Copybooks - Medium, Bold & Upright series 26 Vere Foster’s Upright Writing Charts 28 Handwriting Course – Pitman’s College 29 The Theory and Practice of Handwriting 30 Philips’ ‘Semi-Upright’ Handwriting scheme 31 Visual characteristics of Italic handwriting 32 A New Handwriting for Teachers 32 The Dryad Writing Cards 33 Italic Handwriting for Schools 35 The Renaissance of Italic Handwriting Book 36 Practical Handwriting 37 Beacon Writing Series 38 Visual characteristics of Marion Richardson’s scheme 40

Findings review 43 Limitations 49 Conclusion 51 References 53

Introduction The objective of this study is to analyse and compare different materials used for teaching handwriting in the first half of the twentieth century. It aims to determine the main visual characteristics of a selection of handwriting schemes used to teach cursive handwriting in Britain. In the context of this dissertation, the word ‘scheme’ refers to how cursive handwriting is expected to be learned by children through a systematic arrangement of different materials with correlating content. For example, a set of copybooks, cards and charts from the same series could be considered as part of a scheme. The first half of the twentieth century is selected as the time frame for this research, first because as Copperplate, mainly taught in the nineteenth century, started to be less used in schools, other handwriting styles and schemes became available, and second because new handwriting styles allowed authors to become more adventurous in the layout design of their scheme’s materials, challenging conventions on cursive handwriting materials for children.

Terminology It is useful to determine some of the vocabulary to refer to cursive handwriting publications and their attributes since, as S assoon explained in her thesis (1988), there is no consensus among scho lars for terms like ‘copybook’. Twyman and Walker (1991) also drew attention to the same problem when it cames to letterforms, noting the reluctance of teachers to describe parts of the letters or their features. In the same article, they provide a visual summary of different words used to refer to letterform parts and their attributes, as well as a recommended term. Twyman and Walker had been used as reference to define some of the terms shown below, with some illustrative examples.

C abg

a b

d h

Figure 1. Letter parts and lines: a. capital letter line b. ascender line c. ascender d. x-line e. joining stroke f. exit stroke g. x-height h. base line i. descender j. descender line

Figure 2. Cursive handwriting example. a b c

Figure 3. Type of lines: a. normal line b. dotted line c. dashed-line

- Approach: ‘A way of dealing with a situation or problem’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). In this project’s context, it refers to the way in which teachers or schools teach handwriting (eg, print script is taught first to develop cursive handwriting later). - Ascender: Parts of certain small letters (b, d, f, h, k, l, t) that extends above the x-height (fig. 1). - Ascender line: A horizontal guide line that indicates the height of ascenders (fig. 1). - Base line: A horizontal guide line that indicates the base on which all letters of the alphabet sit (fig. 1). - Capital letter line: A horizontal guide line that indicates height of the capital letters (fig. 1). - Copybooks: Book that contains handwriting models for students to learn. These documents are meant to be written on by children, either providing a space on the side or below the models or for children to write on top of them1. - Cursive handwriting: Broad term used to describe writing composed by joined characters (fig. 2). - Descender: Parts of certain small letters (f, g, j, p, q, y, z2) that extends below the base line (fig. 1). - Descender line: A horizontal guide line that indicates the length of descenders (fig. 1). - Dashed-line: A line composed out of shorter lines (fig. 3). - Dotted line: A line composed out of dots (fig. 3). - Exit-stroke: Last part of a letter before the pen is lifted. In case the 1 Some sources (eg, Sassoon, Oxford Dictionary) have a more broad definition of copybooks, reducing them to books with handwriting exercises. Nonetheless, in this research there is a need to differentiate materials that are intended for children to write on and the ones that are expected to work with supplementary sheets. This definition is set to avoid confusion, although it might not be historically correct. 2 In some styles, ‘z’ does not have a descender.

123456789 Figure 4. Lining numbers

123456789

Figure 5. Non-lining numbers

Figure 6. Print script handwriting example.

letter is followed by another letter to form a word, the exit-stroke joins the letter with the next one through a joining stroke (fig. 1). - Fine motor skill: Ability to move the upper extremities in a coordinated fashion to conduct a goal-oriented task (Wang, 2010). - Handwriting textbook: Book that provides models to be copied and practice by students, but on a different sheet of paper. - Joining stroke: Term used to describe the part in which two or more letters are joined (fig. 1). - Model: ‘Consist of the letterforms to be copied in a generic sense’ (Sassoon, 1988, p. 22). - Lining numbers: A set of numbers that are all aligned to the base line (fig. 4). - Non-lining numbers: A set of numbers that are not all aligned to the base line (fig. 5). - Print script: ‘A style of handwriting which uses simple unjoined letterforms, resembling printed lettering; print hand’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2017) (fig. 6). - Sheet: A piece of paper on which children are expected to practice their handwriting, through copying or tracing. - Style: A particular way in which handwriting is written. Handwriting styles share graphic elements that help recognise and categorise them (eg, letter orientation, thickness of stroke, the way of joining characters) - Stroke: ‘A mark made by drawing a pen, pencil or paintbrush in one direction across the paper’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). - Teacher’s book: Supportive element in a scheme, it explains to teachers how the handwriting style is supposed to be taught in class, how children should use materials inside the schemes, the benefits of using a determined style, etc. - X-line: A horizontal guide line that indicates the height of small letters without ascenders or descenders (fig. 1). - X-height: Height of small letters without ascenders or descenders (fig. 1).

Cursive handwriting in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century The twentieth century was a turning point for Britain when it comes to handwriting. Not only because print script started to become more popular among teachers and schools (Walker, 2007), but also because the number of new cursive handwriting styles increased drastically in comparison to previous centuries. Furthermore, there were fundamental changes in the way cursive handwriting was taught during this period (Myers, 1983). The increasing number of handwriting materials produced by publishers during the twentieth century responded to the high demand made from schools, but the growing number of new handwriting styles and their schemes is another matter. It could be argued that this has to do with the fact that, at that time, Britain did not have a national handwriting style, such as Canada (Holmes, 2010), nor guidance from the government as some US states had for schools (Thornton, 1996). As Fairbank (1973) explains, ‘In England, every Head Teacher is free to choose the style of writing to be taught in his or her school’. This situation not only allowed the development of handwriting styles by teachers, but it also created an intense discussion within the education community. Even though The Athene, Journal of the Society for Education in Art (1952) had some articles that would seem bias3, it is a good example of documentation of these controversial points of view, where different handwriting styles and schemes of that time were criticised and the way research was carried out by handwriting developers was questioned4. The following is a brief historical review of the events that led to the development of the main cursive handwriting styles and their schemes used throughout the first half of the twentieth century as well as the materials in which they were presented.

Handwriting in the nineteenth century

As this research focuses on handwriting schemes used during the twentieth century, it is inevitable to talk about two styles that were developed in the previous century but were still being used 3 Some of the writers on the journal produced their own handwriting scheme and models, such as Wallis Myers or Dumpleton, so it could be argued that they were biased at the time of commenting on other author’s schemes in order to promote their own. 4 Wallis Myers (1983) challenged Nelson System, asking what ‘fully researched’ means in that context and how was the research carried out. She also questioned the involvement of teachers in some handwriting schemes, sometimes wondering if they were involved at all.

Figure 7. Copperplate examples from John Jackson’s Theory and practice of handwriting (1898), p. x-xii, London: S. Low, Marston & Co.

more than one hundred years later: Copperplate and Civil Service. In his book Handwriting: A National Survey (1958), Reginald Piggott shows that both handwriting styles were still used on a daily basis by Britons at the end of the first half of the twentieth century. Copperplate was developed in the seventeenth century (Twyman, 1978), becoming the most dominant style used by writing masters throughout the eighteenth century (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017). Nevertheless, this style started to be taught in classrooms during the early beginnings of the nineteenth century, after the Education Act of 1870 (Myers, 1983). Because of its longevity, it proves to be a difficult task to recount all the ephemeral material produced by publishers at that time. Nonetheless, there is documentation of several copybooks, textbooks and manuals on Copperplate. Most textbooks and manuals focused on hand position, also giving insight into the letterforms structure. A document that provides a good understanding of how the Copperplate style was taught in schools (or how it was intended to) is Henry Gordon’s Handwriting and How to Teach It (nd5). The book, with few than one hundred pages, describes a scheme to teach Copperplate models, with a systematic progression of tasks for children which are arranged by their age. In the article ‘Handwriting in english education’ (1983), Wallis Myers also details the conventions at the time to teach Copperplate, mentioning the struggles that children went through to learn this style. Furthermore, she noted that, although ‘a great 5 Because of its typography and production features, it is reasonable to believe that this book was produced at the end of the nineteenth century. Sassoon (2007) also classifies it as a book produced in this period.

Figure 8. Civil Service examples from Vere Foster’s Bold Writing - copyook 11 (1880), p. 3, London, Glasgow & Mombay: Blackie & Son.

deal of skills’ were learned through Copperplate, when quick writing was needed, the quality of handwriting was very affected. Sue Walker (2007) also described Copperplate as a difficult style for children to write, arguing that the difference between thick and thin strokes required major control of the pen. After Copperplate, a more simplified (eg, fewer loops, less contrast between thick and thins) style was introduced by Vere Foster in his copybooks The Palmerston Edition in 1865. It was named after Henry Palmerston, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who criticised the overcomplicated strokes of the Copperplate models and was in constant correspondence with Foster prior to the publication of copybooks, urging him to improve handwriting practices in Ireland (Smith, 1901). Three series of Vere Foster’s schemes were produced after the original series. They were called the Bold, Medium and Upright series; and each contained different numbers of materials. The first copybooks contain large letterforms and easy handwriting tasks for children, which become more complex as the series goes on, expecting, at the end, that for children to be able to write full paragraphs and produce complex text arrangements such as invoices. The scheme became popular and was adopted by head teachers in England as the main handwriting style to be used by the beginning of the twentieth century. Although there were several copybooks produced by different publishers, there was no real competition against Vere Foster (McNeill, 1971). Besides the vast number of copybooks by Vere Foster, other Civil Service copybooks were published at that time: Crown Copybooks series, which contained thirteen copybooks; Blackwood’s Simplex Civil Service of six copybooks and The Times copybooks. All of these followed Foster’s progressive scheme of more complicated tasks as the children gain control of their motor skills. Isaac Pitman also published a book about Civil Service called Pitman’s Handwriting Course, giving a more detailed insight on how to teach this handwriting style. It focuses on hand positions and posture, proposing different tasks to improve children’s motor skills beyond what is suggested in copybooks. 15

Figure 9. Standard Civil Service writing (top) and a Upright version (below). From John Jackson’s Theory and practice of handwriting (1898), p. 29, London: S. Low, Marston & Co.

Although Vere Foster’s style was the most popular for over a century, a different form of Civil Service started to appear in the late nineteenth century, which was called Vertical or Upright Writing. According to Donica Denise (2010), ‘In England, all writing had been vertical prior to the time of Elizabeth I. Vertical writing was used for about two centuries, then disappeared’. No revival was attempted up until 1887 when the first Vertical writing copybooks started to appear. It might be argued that the model gained popularity at the end of the century when physicians and opticians began to point out the issues with the other models6. John Jackson was one of the first to get involved in the revival of vertical writing. He developed Jackson’s New Style Vertical Writing Copybooks (nd) which was two series of twelve copybooks each, a full set of wall charts with class instructions and a book for teachers. His book Theory and Practice of Handwriting (1898) explains the concept behind the style, different research on handwriting and takes into account left-handed children, which was not usual at that time. It not only focuses on pointing problems but it also proposed different solutions to posture, hand positions and letterforms formation, giving teachers a way into how to teach correctly with various examples of how the handwriting of children should look according to their age. He also created a compendium for daily use, a variety of writing pens suitable for the vertical model and even a scheme of 6 Kimerer (1896), Eaton (1985) and Jackson (1894) raise issues related to the use of Copperplate, such as lung function and eye stains problems. They also make a case for the vertical model comparing its readability with other models used at that time.

Figure 10. Monica Bridge’s handwriting example from A new handwriting for teachers (1899), p. 6, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

annual competitions. According to Sassoon (2007, p. 44), Jackson was different from its competition, because he had ‘what marketing will call today a complete handwriting scheme’, which could explain the success of the model. Almost at the same time as these publications, in 1899, Monica Bridges published A New Handwriting for Teachers and it was, in comparison to the styles used during the century, a refreshing take on handwriting, arguably becoming the first step towards the revival of Italic handwriting style during the twentieth century. Sassoon (2011, p. 43) described Monica Bridges’ model noting its influence ‘by the Arts and Crafts movements of the end of the nineteenth century, the work of William Morris and the revival of what she termed the Italianised Gothic of the sixteenth century’. Bridges’ only publication was a book and it would seem to work more like a teacher’s book or manual than a textbook for children to look at7. The document provides the principal letterforms models, some combinations of letters and a few writing examples but it could be argued that these were meant to be copied by teachers in blackboards for students to copy rather than having each child copying from the book. The guidance provided in the book to readers on how to follow the handwriting models or how to use the manual is not very clear. On it, Mrs Bridges avoids talking about how to hold the pen, arguing that ‘Enough has been written and said about the position of the hand in writing’. She also does not give instructions on how to progressively work on the scheme, just saying that is ‘of course’ children should start with small letters (Sassoon, 2007, p. 57). These arguments support the idea that the main task of the book was to provide beautiful handwriting letterforms but without making a case for their use nor set a clear scheme for teachers to work with. 7 Type size, text length and text vocabulary are mainly suitable for adult readers.

Handwriting in the twentieth century

Figure 11. Italic handwriting examples from different schemes: a. Dryad Writing Cards (1932), card 7, Leicester: The Dryad Press. b. Italic Handwriting for Schools (1953), p. 25, Leeds: E. J. Arnold. c. Practical Handwriting - copybook 4 (1955), p 18, London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son. d. The Renaissance of Italic Handwriting textbook 3 (1954), p. 2, London: Chatto & Windus.

Prior to the war years from 1939 onwards, the teaching of printscript handwriting8 became popular after Edward Johnson explained his method to a group of teachers in London in 1918 (Horton, 1972). Nevertheless, some teachers had a different take on which handwriting style was appropriate for children. Alfred Fairbank was one of the educators who had a different approach on writing, proposing a revival of the Italic. Fairbank’s model was first introduced in 1928 through a set of cards designed by him for a school in Barking (Myers, 1983), providing examples of Italic models as well as instructions for teachers. They were then published in 1932 under the name of The Dryad Writing Cards. In the same year, A Handwriting Manual was published by Fairbank. The document was a teacher’s book with the basics of the scheme, although it did not propose a way to progressively work with children as other manuals usually did at the time. Nevertheless, in the fifties, Fairbank produced a series of copybooks with Charlotte Stone and Winifred Hooper, called Beacon Writing, with six copybooks with a structured course of handwriting, allowing teachers to work continuously with children’s abilities. After Fairbank, other teachers and publishers began to work on schemes to teach Italic handwriting in classrooms. Kenneth Yates’ Italigraph Handwriting (1953) was one of them, which contains three copybooks and a teacher’s book. Another one was Percy Wood’s Italic Handwriting for Schools (1953), which had one textbook and a teacher’s book. The latest one published was William Worthy’s The Renaissance of Italic Handwriting (1954), containing four copybooks and a teacher’s manual. 8 In the article ‘Letterforms for handwriting and reading’ (2007), Sue Walker provides a summary of the different approaches to teach print script handwriting as well as an analysis to the events that later led to the popularization of this style and its everlasting impact in book design for children.

Figure 12. Marion Richardson’s handwriting example from Writing and Writing Patterns - textbook 3 (1935), p. 5b, London: University of London Press.

Figure 13. Patterns example from Writing and Writing Patterns - textbook 1 (1935), p. 18a, London: University of London Press.

Another departure from the print-script popularity was Marion Richardson’s Writing & Writing Patterns. It was first published by London University Press in 1935, and although teachers had different views on it at that time9, as Sassoon explained (2011), her scheme had a significant influence on the way handwriting was taught on the rest of the century and even today. Myers (1983) noted that Richardson anticipated the creative element which was developed later in the century. Richardson’s scheme was presented through different materials to be used in class. It had five textbooks for children, which focused primarly on working with the main patterns to be associated with letterforms. On the other textbooks, children are expected to work progressively as their motor skills are developed, proposing tasks of writing words, sentences and paragraphs. The teacher’s book explained how to use the cards and the textbooks in class, focusing on working with the patterns to later on work with the actual letterforms. The set of cards is mainly reproductions of the first textbooks, double sided printed, showing patterns on one side and letter or words on the other. The scheme also had two small booklets which Sassoon (2011, p. 71) described as ‘the most innovative and child-oriented part of the whole scheme’. In the booklets, the alphabet was separated into groups of letterforms with similar strokes and each page shows a group with an associated pattern. All of the mentioned handwriting styles used during the first half of the twentieth century in Britain allowed authors and publishers to develop different schemes to teach children how to write. Considering the aim of this research, the next sections explain the methods and criteria used to analyse selected materials to describe and compare them later, drawing attention to key publications from this period. 9 Robin Tanner praised Richardson’s scheme on Primary Education (1959), writing that focused on the essential part of handwriting: ‘rhythmical patterns of lines across the page’. On the other hand, John Dumpleton wrote in Athene, Journal of the Society for Education in Art (1952) that Richardson’s model fails on the most important requirements of handwriting: ‘legibility, speed and beauty’.

Research methods In order to determine the characteristics of the visual representation of different schemes of teaching cursive handwriting in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century, a descriptive and analytical review was made of examples from this period. This project focuses on one or more (depending on availability 10) visual representations of each of the four main handwriting styles used during this period: Copperplate, Civil Service, Marion Richardsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Italic. The review of the selected schemes focused on the following material attributes: - Format: To establish conventional production practices at the time and if there is a relationship between the format of the materials and the schemes. How was the information presented on each scheme: copybooks, textbooks, charts and/or cards? Was their orientation portrait or landscape? - Layout: How were elements usually arranged on pages, cards or charts? - Colour: To what extent was colour used in these publications? If colour was used, what function did it fulfil? - Lines: How were guide lines used to help children to learn how to write? If there were different kinds of guide lines (eg, dotted lines), was there a convention to follow between publishers or did their functions vary among different schemes? - Models: How were letters introduced to children (eg, if they were deconstructed in strokes or drawn with dotted lines)? As well as a review of the material attributes listed above, consideration is also taken on the context in which some of the design decisions were made by publishers and authors, and the impact of the design and layout changes within a set of publications (eg, a set of copybooks) of a scheme.

10 Sassonn (2007, p. 38) commented on the limited availability of ephemeral material from different handwriting schemes within Museums and collections. The primary sources to access to these materials were The British Library and A. F. Johnson Collection of the Typography & Graphic Communication Department of the University of Reading.

Figure 14. Spread from Howitt’s National School of Progressive Copybooks - copybook 2 (nd), p. 7-8, London: A. Willis.

Visual characteristics of cursive handwriting schemes Selected publications described and analysed in this section were grouped based on which handwriting style they taught, appearing in chronological order within these groups.

Visual characteristics of Copperplate

Howitt’s National School of Progressive Copybooks

Figure 15. Elementary characters from Howitt’s National School of Progressive Copybooks copybook 1 (nd), p. 1, London: A. Willis.

One of the early examples of materials used to teach copperplate handwriting to children is Howitt’s National School, a series of four copybooks with twenty-four pages each, published in 1852 in London. According to the copybook, it presents the alphabet in its ‘simplest elements’, which shows an attempt to simplify the complexity of Copperplate models at the time, arguably becoming one of the first steps towards the Civil Service model. Copybook one focuses on ‘elementary characters’11 (figure 15), while the second provides different examples of letter combination, showing how to join characters to create a word. Both have the same layout design and, as figure 14 displays, have a guide line system. The first level is composed of five horizontal black lines at the top of the page where the model is shown, followed by twelve 11 Page 1 gives a summary of the ‘elementary characters’, which seems to be a selection of twenty-four characters and strokes that give children the base to write all small and capital letters.

red lines grouped in pairs with the same space between them, indicating the x-height. Underneath there are secondary guide lines: twenty-four horizontal and thirty-six diagonal lines printed on light grey. This complex guide line system mainly uses colour and spacing to differentiate where the models are and where children are expected to fill the gap with the given models. Word and sentence creation are the main themes developed on copybooks three and four. Both have a similar structure per page, showing a model sentence at the top of the page to be copied underneath. The main difference between these two copybooks, relies on the use of lines: copybook three shows the x-height through horizontal lines while copybook four just shows the base line. Figure 16 displays how guide lines are used on these copybooks and it clearly demonstrates how its use is reduced as children become more skilled.

Figure 16. Illustration of the guide line system grid on Howitt’s National School of Progressive Copybooks - Copybook 1 & 2 ( first), 3 (second) and 4 (third) (nd), London: A. Willis.

The Model Copybooks The Model Copybooks (1858) was a series comprising eight copybooks presented as little booklets, with twenty-four pages each. Blue pages were used (figure 18), with only one printed page per spread12, probably to reduce production cost. These materials presented a new way to practice Copperplate. The ‘copybooks’ do not have space to write on them and children are not expected to copy the models on different sheets. According to the copybook, the correct way to practice handwriting with these materials is for children to trace with a pencil on top of the given models ‘fifty or a hundred times until fluency and accuracy are obtained’. 12 From page one to eleven, only recto pages were printed while verso were left blank, pages twelve and thirteen are blank and pages fourteen to twenty-four are only printed on verso pages. Given the conventions of the time, it is reasonable to believe that each copybook was made out of one-sided printed sheet which was folded and then cut.

Figure 17. Instead of the commonly off-white used at the time, The Model Copybooks used blue colored pages. From The Model Copybooks copybook 1 (1858), p. 1,London: Ward & Lock.

The main feature of the materials was how models were designed, following the idea of copying them more than fifty times. As figure 18 shows, the ‘beginning’ of each character is joined with its exit stroke, following the cursive joint idea but joining one letter instead of two, forming one endless stroke which allows children to copy them many times without lifting the pen. Although this principle of ‘infinite character’ saves space in copybooks, its main flaw is that it does not allow children to see their handwriting without the model underneath, making it impossible for them to compare the models with their handwriting.

Visual characteristics of Civil Service

Vere Foster Writing Copybooks - Palmerston Edition

Figure 18. Characters from The Model Copybooks are presented with a stroke that joins the beginning of the letter with the exit stroke, creating an ‘infinite character’, which allow children to write the same letter multiple times without lifting the pen. From The Model Copybooks - copybook 3 (1858), p. 10, London: Ward & Lock.

Vere Foster’s first series of copybooks was published in 1865, and contains ten copybooks of twenty-four pages each. According to Sassoon (2007, p. 40), it was ‘an immediate success spread to England, America and then throughout the English-speaking world’. The copybooks presented instructional text about the models, how to teach them and how to use the materials properly on the inside back cover. They were printed in two colours: black for the models and light blue for vertical and horizontal lines. It appears probable that the light blue lines were printed in that way to give children some structure, but maintaining the models as the most important aspect of the page. Copybooks one to seven presented pairs of horizontal lines to indicate the x-height (figure 19-a, next page). Although the number of pair of lines per page is consistent within one copybook, it varies between copybooks. It seems that this variation on the number of lines is due to a better use of space, having fewer lines whenever ascenders or descenders appear, which requires more space between lines to copy them.

Figure 19. Pages which exemplify how guide lines are less used as children become more skilled. From Vere Foster’s Writing CopybooksPalmerston edition (1865), London, Glasgow & Edingburg: Blackie & Son. a. copybook 1, p. 10 b. copybook 9, p. 4

Figure 20. Extract showing how capital letters are presented in different stages. From Vere Foster’s Writing Copybooks - Palmerston Edition - copybook 3 (1865), p. 13 London, Glasgow & Edingburg: Blackie & Son.

Unusually, this series introduces vertical lines with a purpose (figure 19-a). These lines were used in copybooks one to four, perhaps to indicate the horizontal space in which children could replicate the preceding models. The pairs of lines are reduced to a base line in copybook eight, by which children are expected to have developed more their handwriting skills. Copybooks nine (figure 19-b) and ten have only vertical lines at the beginning and at the end of the sentence model, which again seems to be an attempt to give children a sense of the horizontal space in which they are allowed to replicate the given model. Like many copybooks of the nineteenth century, Vere Foster’s series introduces small letters first and then capitals. Copybooks one and two deal with small letters in a conventional manner and capitals are introduced in copybook three. On top of each page, a new capital is first presented in print script, with its Civil Service version next to it with different word examples (figure 20).

Vere Foster’s Copybooks - Medium13, Bold & Upright series After the success of his first series, Vere Foster published, in 1880, three new series with subtle differences on the handwriting models: Medium, a simpler Civil Service version from the Palmerston edition; Bold, a model with thicker lines, and Upright, a vertical version of the Medium series. The sets had different numbers of copybooks (eg, Bold series had twenty-three) with twenty four pages each, whereby handwriting models are presented for children to copy them. There are subtle differences between each series of copybooks, nonetheless, they share how lines are used (figure 21). Although in the Medium and Upright series the dotted lines just show the 13 For this analysis, the Medium series revised was the 1980 edition, although according to the Bold Writing Copybook series there was at that time (1880) a Medium series.

Figure 21. Extracts from the first copybooks of the Bold (left) and Medium (right) series, showing how they use guide lines with the same purposes. They also display how letters composed of dotted lines are different between series.

Figure 22. Page showing a more complex text for children to practice, adding new elements, such as indentation and horizontal space to separate items. From Vere Foster’s Bold Writing - copyook 19 (1880), p. 4, London, Glasgow & Mombay: Blackie & Son.

‘main form’ of the letterform, in the Bold series the thickness of the stroke is indicated, as displayed in figure 21. It could be argued that this difference shows the importance of the thickness of stroke in the Bold series. Throughout the sets of copybooks, vertical and horizontal lines are used for different purposes. Two kinds of lines can be identified within these copybooks: - Thick lines: These vertical and horizontal lines create a grid that divides the space on the page in rectangles, indicating different types of information14. Vertical lines also show the horizontal length of a model and the space children have to replicate them. Horizontal lines also mark how high ascenders and how low descenders should go. - Dotted lines: These horizontal lines indicate the x-height of the models in copybooks one to twelve and are used in the rest of the copybooks to indicate the base line. The use of lines within these copybooks seems to be related to the children’s skills of writing. For example, in the Bold series, vertical lines are no longer used to set the length of words from copybook eleven onwards, x-height is no longer indicated by dotted lines from copybook twelve onwards, and ascenders and descenders lines are no longer used from copybook fourteen. This supports the idea that the more practice a child has with their handwriting, fewer guided lines are needed it. Most of the Bold series work in a similar way as the Upright and Medium series, nevertheless, from copybook eighteen onwards, a different approach is taken from the other series and with it, their design changes. The last six copybooks have more challenging exercises, with longer text a variety of ways (eg, figure 22). 14 For example, in copybook one (Bold series), they create a space at the top of the page for short tips for students, another one to show the model and another one with the space in which children are expected to replicate the given models.

Figure 23. Chart showing its layout design and how letters are decomposed in strokes. From Vere Foster’s Upright Writing Charts - chart 4 (1887), London: Blackie & Son.

Figure 24. When capitals are presented, x-height is still indicated through guide lines, arguably to show the size relationship with small letters. Extract from Vere Foster’s Upright Writing Charts - chart 22 (1887), London: Blackie & Son.

Vere Foster’s Upright Writing Charts A set of twenty-four black and white charts were produced by Vere Foster in 1887, which presumably was intended to be put on the walls of the class, allowing children to constantly have a reference for their handwriting. This set came along with a four-page booklet that explains the main difference between the regular Civil Service and the Vertical or Upright handwriting; it also gives teachers some instructions on how children are expected to reproduce the model. Throughout the charts, an adjustable grid helps to position the characters to save space. Models are displayed in three lines whenever there are no ascenders or descenders and in two lines when those letters or capitals are shown. As displayed in figure 23, the chart’s layout design uses elements from copybooks, using thick lines to set a rectangle in which the models will be shown on each chart. Inside the rectangle, two types of horizontal lines are used: a pair thin black lines which indicate the x-height of letters and a thicker line which, one can argue, attempts to show that a different model/exercise is underneath. Another element borrowed from the copybooks is that they displayed how some characters are composed through strokes in a two-step process (figure 23). Eight small letters compositions are visible in five charts, without any indication for children to understand are looking at a two-part process rather than a character on its own. One could argue that the ambiguity on the selection of these characters and their non-consecutive placement on the chart numbers15 could confuse children since there are no graphic devices that help them to understand this process. 15 Charts number two, four, six, ten and twelve show small letters composition.

Figure 25. Verso pages have the lessons while recto pages have models. Spread from Handwriting Course (nd), p. 82 - 83, London: Pitman’s College.

Handwriting Course – Pitman’s College This undated15 textbook presents a series of progressive exercises to learn Civil Service handwriting through its 124 black and white pages. The textbook has an introduction page which gives some indications to readers, such as hand and body position or suggested kind of pen. It also explains that the handwriting models displayed are photographic reproductions and ‘not production of engraver’s tools’. Three pages follow the introduction, with some indications about the formation of letters. The rest of the textbook is designed with a clear structure. As figure 25 illustrates, verso pages have ‘lessons’ set in type which are then graphically described on the recto pages next to them, described as ‘plates’. Although there is no mention of it on the textbook nor in other sources, it could be argued that these ‘plates’ were sold separately as cards, since this was a common practice for some textbooks/books for teachers at the time, such as Monica Bridges’ A New Handwriting for Teachers (1899). The first lessons display first strokes or ‘patterns’ to, later on, introduce small letters in no alphabetical order and then capitals. Print script is also mentioned in one lesson with an alphabet and some indications on how to hold the pen when practising this 16 Its design and typography follow conventions used at the beginning of the twentieth century.

kind of handwriting. Later pages deal with letters and documents, possibly resembling Vere Foster’s Bold Writing practice on the final copybooks of the series. The main feature of this textbook, which certainly makes it different from others at that time17, is how cursive handwriting is used not only to show children a model but also to give explanations (eg, figure 26). Although the lesson was set on type on the verso pages, explanations and tips were also given on recto pages on handwriting. The three pages that followed the introduction were also handwritten. A case could be made for this material to be considered one of the first to expect children not only to practice the given models on the book but also to read the content to learn about handwriting. Even though all other materials presented on this dissertation seem to expect children to read their content, none of them gives actual indications about the exercise or handwriting practice when handwriting is used. Figure 26. Underneath the strokes models on top, a handwritten explanation follows. Recto page from Handwriting Course (nd), p. 21, London: Pitman’s College.

Figure 27. ‘Right and wrong’ examples. Extract from Theory and practice of handwriting (1898), p. 100, London: S. Low, Marston & Co.

Figure 28. A student’s handwriting after two years learning vertical writing. Extract from Theory and practice of handwriting (1898), p. 140, London: S. Low, Marston & Co.

The Theory and Practice of Handwriting John Jackson’s book about handwriting makes a case for Vertical writing, going into every detail that entails teaching and learning cursive handwriting through its 156 pages printed in black and white, focusing mainly on text, using a conventional typography but adding different elements such as underlined or bold to highlight particular ideas or important words. Photographs are used to show how children are supposed to be seated, while illustrations simplify complex ideas, such as eye positions when students are writing and reading. Images usually break the text flow and sometimes are placed few pages away from the text that they refer to. One of the main features, not usually seen in books about handwriting at that time, is the right and wrong examples for letters or combination of letters (figure 27). This allows teachers to see the main difference between the correct model and the typical mistakes made by children. Although it was a simple idea, its relevance is clear as different handwriting publications use it in the twentieth century. Another interesting feature is the different handwriting examples given at the end of the book, which were made by children. Eight handwriting examples are the most interesting ones, which show how children aged between eight to fifteen write, with example per year and page (figure 28). It could be reasonably contended that these examples were useful to teachers as they could help them manage their expectations on children’s writing according to their age. 17 At that time, textbooks usually presented their main text and tips on type, using handwriting only whenever children were expected to copy the models.

Figure 29. Different guide lines are used in the copybooks and cards, mainly with the same purpose. a. normal line b. dotted line c. spaced dotted line Page from Philip Semi-Upright Copybooks copybook 9 (1908), p. 9, London & Liverpool: George Philip & Son.

Philips’ ‘Semi-Upright’ Handwriting scheme In 1908, George Philip published a scheme to teach Vertical handwriting and it was composed by a set of twelve double sided cards18 and a set of twenty-one copybooks. They were designed to be used together, presenting small characters first and then capitals, as it was the convention at the time. Copybooks and cards use guide lines in similar ways. For example, the first six cards have seven written lines with models, indicating the x-height with a pair of dotted lines, as the first copybooks. On the early stages, both of them also illustrate the middle of the x-height with a more spaced dotted line (figure 29), probably to give children more guides. Another example is how whenever continuous text displayed, horizontal lines are not spaced, but vertical dotted lines are used to indicate space between words. It is hard to see the efficiency of the vertical dotted lines since space is usually used instead. Nevertheless, as more content is presented in the copybooks than in the twelve cards, lines are used in different ways for other purposes. For example, in copybook seven and nine, the ascenders and descenders are indicated with a more spaced dotted horizontal line than the one that shows the x-height. Since previous copybooks of this scheme used a black line to indicate the same, it is reasonable to believe that ‘lighter’ lines were used from copybook seven onwards because children were expected to know already the height of ascenders and descenders at that stage. 18 The materials analysed on this dissertation were only available on microfilm.

Figure 30. Guide lines have a different purpose compared to the cards. Page from Philip Semi-Upright Copybooks - copybook 7-a (1908), p. 9, London & Liverpool: George Philip & Son.

Another example of the different use of lines from the cards can be found in copybook seven-a (figure 30). In this copybook, numeral figures are presented and each page has a clear structure that is repeated throughout the publication. At the top of each page, numbers are displayed without any guide lines, but underneath, horizontal and vertical lines are used. They create a grid of squares which arguably gives children a better sense of how much space on a page a number should have. Since the copybooks offer plenty of examples to work with, it appears that the set of cards were used as complementary materials, showing just a few exercises and words. The first six cards mainly display a different number of words that are related to each other (eg, days of the week, months, etc.) but not continuous text. On the other hand, the remaining six cards use smaller letter sizes and display different examples of common text on a daily basis, indicating through lines and indentation which kind of document children are looking at, as shown in figure 31. All sides of the cards have portrait orientation, except two; cards eight-two and eleven-two, which are horizontal. Both sides presumably have this orientation to use space better, showing an arithmetic problem and three addresses on card eight-two and two short letters on card eleven-two. Although the landscape orientation with two columns works for card eight-two, in card eleven-two, the difference between letters is not so clear, mainly because they are the same kind of documents and space between columns is not too different from the space between letters.

Visual characteristics of Italic Handwriting A New Handwriting for Teachers

Figure 31. Examples of handwriting text used on a daily basis are shown from card seven onwards. Microfilm projection of card 10 from Philip Semi-Upright Cards - card 10-2 (1908), London & Liverpool: George Philip & Son.

Published in 1899, Monica Bridges’ book was black and white printed, with twenty-eight pages in total, in which the first six give some introduction to the model to teachers as well as indications on how to use the other pages. The rest of the pages are described in the book as ‘plates’, which are only printed on recto pages, showing examples of Bridges’ model. According to the book, plates one, two, three and six could be bought as a separate set of cards. The opening pages are set in italic type, probably replicating Pitman’s idea of having explanatory notes in the same style as the models that are supposed to be learned. These pages were set without any images, constantly mentioning plates or letterforms which forced readers to go back and forward between pages and it is reasonable to believe that reading flow could be compromised because of it. As displayed in figure 32, plates one and two present capital letters in alphabetical order, breaking with the tradition of that time of working with small letters first. Plate three shows the alphabet of small letters, but with more refined and mechanic

Figure 32. Plates 1 and 2 from A New Handwriting for teachers (1899), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Figure 33. Plate 5 shows the number of strokes to write capital letters.

models, which according to the book are due to printing methods, as plate one and two were photographic reductions, while the third was engraved. Plate four displays two tables that group small letters according to their ‘main stroke’. The first column of each table shows the main stroke, while the second column indicates all the letters that are formed with that stroke. At the end of the second table, there is a group of letters that are not categorised in any of the ten stroke categories. Although vertical lines are used on the table, one could argue that the lack of horizontal lines between groups gives the impression that groups are placed vertically and not horizontally, probably generating confusion at first sight. The fifth plate (figure 33) shows numbers, some capitals and combinations of small letters. The main feature of this plate is how the capitals are displayed, using an interesting system to show children the way capitals are constructed. The first part of capitals is shown with a black stroke, while the second stroke is formed with a dotted line, and the third stroke (on the few capitals with three strokes) is not shown, presumably expecting children to know how to complete the letter.

The Dryad Writing Cards Alfred Fairbank published The Dryad Writing Cards in 1932. This set of ten cards was presented in a printed envelope with some indications on pen position and the concept of the scheme: ‘rhythmical handwriting’. Inside the envelope, there was also a double sided print sheet of paper with explanations on how to use each card and their function.

Figure 34. a. card 1 shows ‘patterns’ and small letters. b. card 6 focuses on capital letters. From The Dryad Writing Cards (1932), Leicester: The Dryad Press.

The cards were one-sided printed in black and white, with the same order to place elements: exercises and model started at the top using most space on the cards, with the name of the set and number of the card at the bottom left and the name of the press at the bottom right. As figure 34-a shows, card one displays the right thickness of stroke on the thickest and thinner pen angle, with seven lines of rhythmical patterns underneath made out of the repetition of letters. According to the explanatory sheet of paper, these lines showed the ‘main movements’ children do when they write. Afterwards, small letters are shown in alphabetical order and letters with two strokes (one pen lift) are decomposed on their strokes. Through samples of text, the practice of handwriting and joins are the main aspects that are displayed on cards two to five. The sample text shown on the second card does not have any joined letters, while diagonal joins are presented on card three and four and card five focuses on horizontal joins (Figure 34-b). Although this was an attempt to progressively demonstrate children how letters are joined, it could be argued that this method can confuse children, as they display ‘incorrect’ (unjoined) models first to later on introduce the ‘right’ one (joined). Capitals are introduced in card six (figure 35) in groups according to the number of strokes but with no decomposition of strokes as small letters. The remaining cards mainly focus on writing in general with no specific aim more than practice. It could be contended that, like many publications at the time, The Dryad Cards do not give capitals the same importance as small letters, considering the order in which they are expected to be taught and how many cards have them.

Figure 35. Capitals are presented in groups according to their number of strokes. Card 6 from The Dryad Writing Cards (1932), Leicester: The Dryad Press.

Figure 36. There was no hierarchy difference between (left) models to be written and text to be read, which could be confusing for children. From Italic Handwriting for Schools (1953), p. 8-9, Leeds: E. J. Arnold. Figure 37. Text was set on type, constantly showing (right) models and ocasionally using images. From Italic Handwriting for Schools Teacher’s Book (1953), p. 11, Leeds: E. J. Arnold.

Italic Handwriting for Schools It could be argued that the first material related to Italic that was produced for each child to have in the classroom was Italic Handwriting for Schools by Percy Woods in 1953. The textbook has thirty-two pages, printed in black and white with no images on it. Its main feature relies on the use of Italic handwriting not only to show the model but to give an indication to children (figure 36). Probably influenced by Pitman’s Handwriting Course, Wood’s textbook takes this idea even further, having the whole textbook in handwriting, only using type for the page number. Using only handwriting throughout the textbook did represent a challenge to conventions at the time, and it arguably integrated the reading and writing learning process better. Nonetheless, it can be contended that its lack of hierarchy between indications and models or exercises can be confusing for children. For example, one exercise reads ‘Copy these words:-garden, good, danger…’ with no hierarchy difference between the indication and the words that are expected to be written. With no clear hierarchy between different kinds of text, the textbook looks like a written journal more than a material to learn to handwrite and is reasonable to believe that it was not appealing to children. In contrast to the monotone textbooks for children, the thirty-page teacher’s book was set in type, with a mixture of pictures and text (figure 37). Its content is like most teacher’s book at the time but without a clear scheme to work in the classroom, more than anything focusing on the ‘correct’ forms that letters in italic should have. The teacher’s book content appears to indicate that Wood was influenced by Theory and Practice of Handwriting. In the same way as the latter, Wood shows examples of how letters are and are not supposed to look like and also have a section at the end with children’s handwriting examples on different ages. 35

The Renaissance of Italic Handwriting Books

Figure 38. Patterns of small letters. From The Reinassance of Italic Handwriting Books textbook 1 (1954), p. 3, London: Chatto & Windus.

Figure 39. Illustrations are used as a decorative feature, arguably becoming more appealing to children. From The Reinassance of Italic Handwriting Books - textbook 3 (1954), p. 5, London: Chatto & Windus.

On the years following Wood’s textbook, several materials about Italic handwriting were published, and The Renaissance of Italic Handwriting was one of them, in 1954. W. Worthy’s set was composed by four textbooks of twenty-four pages each, all printed in black and white, with a teacher’s book of thirty-two pages. A case could be made for Marion Richardson’s (description on p. 40) influence on Worthy’s publication based on the use of patterns (figure 38). Textbooks one and two display them on their first pages and children are expected to practice them. Patterns are also used as decorative elements on other pages where they surround the content and even on its title. The textbook’s handwriting changes progressively as children are expected to learn to write properly. Letter size difference between textbook one and four is evident, becoming smaller in each book. The handwriting texture on textbook one also indicates that children are expected to use pencil on early stages, while that changes for ink in textbook two onwards. This also supports the idea of Richardson’s influence, since she used the same strategy in her materials. One of the main innovative features of these materials is how illustrations are used. Although some previous publications about handwriting had illustrations, their main purpose was to show something (eg, hand position) whereas Worthy’s textbooks use them to decorate pages (figure 39). It could be contended that this was one of the first attempts to make handwriting materials more appealing to children through decorative elements. Illustrations were also used as part of exercises. For example, on textbook one, illustrations of an aeroplane and a cruise are shown (figure 40), with their parts written and indicated by arrows. This arguably supports the idea that Worthy tried to create dynamic and engaging pages for children to look at to later copy them.

Figure 40. Illustrations are also used to create exercises for children. From The Reinassance of Italic Handwriting Books - textbook 1 (1954), p. 21, London: Chatto & Windus.

Figure 41. Small letters are presented first in their print script version, next to it, a Italic version and then a dashed line version. From Practical Handwriting - primer (1955), p. 1, London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son.

Figure 42. Landscape booklets use a similar grid as Vere Foster’s Bold Writing, but with a diagonal dashed line. From Practical Handwriting - copybook 1 (1955), p. 3, London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son.

Figure 43. Table of combinations. From Practical Handwriting - Teacher’s Book (1955), p. 53, London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son.

Practical handwriting In 1955, Reginald Piggott published a complete scheme to learn Italic handwriting called Practical Handwriting, which consisted of a set of four copybooks as landscape booklets of twenty-four pages each, a portrait copybook of sixteen pages and a teacher’s book of fifty-four pages. First, letters are presented in the portrait copybook with their print script version, followed by their Italic form and then two dashed line version of the letter (figure 41). Capitals are presented only on their Italic form on the same size as small letters. It is likely that this decision of not using print script or dashed lines letter for the capitals was due to the similarities between print script capitals and their italic versions, allowing more space for children to copy them. All pages of this copybook use the same structure base on fifteen horizontal dashed lines with the same space between them, which are used to indicate the maximum space children are supposed to use vertically to replicate the models. The next four landscape copybooks use a similar grid structure (figure 42) as Vere Foster’s Bold Writing series, indicating x-height through horizontal lines and using vertical lines to indicate the horizontal length of a model. Ascenders and descenders are indicated by dashed lines. A new feature introduced in this set of booklets is the six dashed diagonal lines that appear per page. One can assume these lines indicated the degree in which letters were supposed to lean. It is worth noting that, as Foster’s previous publication, this set of copybooks use fewer lines as children are expected to become more confident with their handwriting. The teacher’s book uses conventional typography at the time, with many illustrations to graphically explain teachers some aspects related to handwriting, such as how to create Italic letters with chalk on the blackboard. At the end, it presents four tables of thirteen columns and twelve lines (eg, figure 43) in which all 624 possible combinations of two letters are displayed. It is likely that this was useful to teachers whenever there were doubts on how to join a specific combination of letters. 37

Figure 44. Presentation of patterns and letter ‘s’. From Beacon Writing Series - textbook 1 (1958), p. 12-13, London: Ginn & Co Ltd.

Beacon Writing Series In 1958, Alfred Fairbank and Charlotte Stone published the Beacon Writing Series, a set of seven textbooks to learn Italic handwriting. Although Fairbank apparently influenced Richardson’s Writing and Writing Patterns (description on p. 40) with The Dryad Cards, this set of textbooks was influenced by Richardson and demonstrates the relationship and acknowledgement between both authors. The first two textbooks were thirty-two pages long and are perfect examples of Richardson’s influence. First, patterns are used to introduce small letters (figure 44), using the same pencil texture for models. Colour was also used to show models, but without a clear function like Richardson’s. It could be argued that Stone and Fairbank use the second colour more as a decorative feature than to give hierarchy to information. While textbook one mainly focuses on introducing small letters through patterns, textbook two presents all letters in alphabetical order with a clear structure on the page. Capitals and small letters are presented together and repeated nine times in a page in three lines changing colours in each line between black and blue or red. Later on, numbers are displayed on their own and within simple mathematical problems.

Figure 45. Textbook 3 and 4 do not show many models. Above, an exercise reads ‘Now let us give ourselves a serious test; there are 3 things to do: 1. A line showing a series of hair-lines’, intead of showing the exercise. From Beacon Writing Series - textbook 3 (1958), p. 14-15, London: Ginn & Co Ltd.

Figure 46. The ‘n’ family. From Beacon Writing Series - textbook 5 (1958), p. 5, London: Ginn & Co Ltd.

The next textbook is a ‘supplementary book’ which reinforced what children have learned in textbooks one and two, using a similar page structure and printed colours. Presumably, this additional material was used when children needed more practice before moving on to the next textbooks which were more complex. Although the first two and the supplementary textbooks were designed to resemblance Richardson’s scheme, textbooks three and four are completely different within their sixty-four pages. They were set on type, with long paragraphs of text and small handwriting models in the middle (figure 45). The design of these two materials, one could argue, were not as child-friendly as other publications at the time tried to be. As displayed in figure 45, exercises are written instead of shown, which makes it more difficult for children to interact properly with the material. On contrast, textbook five and six, of twenty-four pages each, have only exercises and models. On textbook five, each page works as a unit in which a specific letter or ‘family letter’ is shown and children are expected to copy them (figure 46). Textbook six mainly shows different text examples on Italic handwriting.

Figure 47. Spread from Writing and Writing Patterns - textbook 1 (1935), p. 4a-4b, London: University of London Press.

Figure 48. Pages from Writing and Writing Patterns booklet 1 and 2 (1935), p. 1 and 4, London: University of London Press.

Visual characteristics of Marion Richardson’s scheme

Marion Richardson’s scheme (1935) was presented through two sets of booklets19 with six double-sided printed pages each, five textbooks for children and one teacher’s book. According to the latter, pages of the textbooks were also available for purchase separately as standalone cards printed on thicker paper. The booklets were meant for children aged six, to introduce them to the basic patterns and letters (figure 48). They were designed with the same principle used throughout all materials in the scheme: clean pages with no horizontal or vertical lines, having only the patterns and letters on display. Colour was used to differentiate elements, with red/brown patterns and black letters. Textbook one has forty-two pages and presents the same elements as the booklets but with more complexity. Its design disregards conventions at that time and works in spreads instead of standalone pages (figure 47). Verso pages display compositions made out of a pattern with no letters while recto pages show lines of patterns interleaved with lines of letters related to that pattern. Although not stated, textbook one mainly focuses on the composition of colourful patterns while making children aware of its relation with letterforms. This suggests Richardson’s awareness of children’s need to develop fine motor skills before practising words. 19 The booklets were originally presented as ‘hinged cards’ according to the teacher’s book.

Figure 49. Covers of the textbooks of Writing and Writing Patterns (1935), London: University of London Press.

Textbook two follows the design convention of standalone pages, focusing its main content on rhymes through its twenty-two pages. Lines of text are displayed first, and a pattern related to the main letters of that text is underneath. Even though textbook two focuses on letters, according to the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book, it should be used with textbook one and teachers should concentrate the attention of children on the relationship between patterns and letterforms. An design change is introduced in textbook three: letterforms and patterns have more intensity in their colours and no longer try to resemble chalk or pencil but pen instead (figure 50, next page). This presumably indicates the need for children to start practising with pens. It uses a similar double spread layout as textbook one, but with more complex textures generated by patterns on the verso, showing underneath the core pattern and then the related letters, while the recto focuses mainly on different kinds of text related to that pattern. The page layout design suggests that children should start focusing more on constructing words, but nonetheless keep practising with more complex patterns to develop skills. 41

Figure 50. Spread from Writing and Writing Patterns - textbook 3 (1935), p. 1a-1b, London: University of London Press.

Figure 51. Landscape photographs were placed with portrait orientation to follow the page format, requiring the reader to rotate the book in order to look properly at the picture. From Writing and Writing Patterns - Teacher’s book (1935), p. 42, London: University of London Press.

Textbook four and five have twenty-six and twenty-four pages each, and they both use the spread layout as textbook three, although with the difference in the complexity of the patterns presented as well as the displayed text. Slight difference of letter sizes and pen stroke thickness are used in textbook three, four and five, most likely showing how kids are expected to be developing their writing skills through these stages. The teacher’s book follows design and production conventions at the time with sixty-four pages printed in black and white. The first eighteen pages focus through text on how to use the textbooks and cards, while the remaining forty-three pages have different images showing photographs of classrooms (figure 51) and different writing sheets samples made by children. It can be argued that its design is not mindful of the relationship between images and text, mainly because images that are referred in the text are shown after many pages, forcing the reader to keep coming back and forward between the text and image. The described and analysed publications in this section provide details about the visual characteristics of each material individually, comparing certain design aspects and also noting influences among schemes. The next section examines which key visual characteristics were shared by publications, providing an insightful discussion about them and how they shape future publications about cursive handwriting.

Findings review The period starting in the late nineteenth century and ending in the first half of the twentieth century, was one of the most productive in Britain history when it comes to teaching handwriting, mainly due to the different handwriting styles presented in a number of diverse publications. Characteristics of these materials could be categorised into three groups: type of material; format and production; and layout and design. The first entails the medium in which kind of publications handwriting schemes were presented (eg, copybooks, cards), and it can be contended that in the first half of the twentieth century, copybooks and textbooks were the major resources used and produced to teach handwriting to children. The copybook format is presented in four out of the six main handwriting schemes in this period, being the fundamental publication of the Civil Service. In the same way, textbooks are found in four out of the six schemes, being the essential source of Marion Richardsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scheme as well as the revival of the Italic. Although teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books are also in four out of the six styles, its relevance at the time could be challenged, as Sassoon (1988) showed how teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books sales discouraged publishing houses to keep producing them. Most of the publications of this time were usually black and white, occasionally adding one or two colours in certain schemes. Elements inside pages were arranged through a range of different methods, depending on which elements were on the page. For example, explanatory notes were usually typeset, while handwriting models used lithography stones or photographic reductions. Copybooks were often presented as twenty-four page landscape format booklets, allowing longer lines of text and more space for children to copy the models. On the other hand, textbooks were mostly presented in a portrait format, with a greater variation of pages per item than the copybooks. With the analysed examples, it seems clear that materials that were intended for children to hold and look at increased in size over this half of the century and it could be argued that these changes benefit children since they offer more space which was used for bigger models or more content. Moreover, it allows children to have more space to practice on. Sets of handwriting cards were typically portrait, but some cards had a landscape orientation, according to the content they displayed. The size of cards was usually smaller than other 43

publications of the scheme, with an unclear reason as they were intended to be shown to children in a longer reading distance than copybooks or textbooks.

Figure 52. a. models and comments or information appear handwritten. From Handwriting Course (nd), p. 55, London: Pitman’s College. b. only models or patterns that children are expected to copy are presented. From Writting and Writting Patterns book 1 (1935), p. 1b, London: University of London Press. c. models are presented with extra information is typeset. From Vere Foster’s Bold Writing - copyook 1 (1880), p. 1, London, Glasgow & Mombay: Blackie & Son.

When it comes to layout and design characteristics, one of the many attributes of these publications is how instructional or extra information are presented regardless of their position on the page. On this matter, materials can be organised into three groups: typesetting, handwriting and no extra information. The first one presented the handwriting models on the page, but additional information was set on type, creating a clear distinction between what children were expected to read and copy. It is the writer of this dissertation’s belief that this was due to production costs more than an intentional hierarchy. The second group used the same handwriting style as the models intended to be copied for the additional information, mixing them and arguably pursuing a more integrated handwriting experience, since children from this period of time were expected to have different letterforms for reading and writing (Walker, 2007). The last group avoids the controversy and extra costs of supplementary information by creating a more intuitive system which does not require additional reading by relying on the teachers to provide instructions to children. This intuitive approach of not having extra information on the page seems the right design decision for young children’s materials, mainly because it presents a cleaner page which just shows the models, avoiding hierarchy issues present in the former two. The way and order letters are introduced on the page (or card) is another subject. Some publications opted for alphabetical order, starting with small letters, numerals and capitals at the end of the

Figure 53. Children write according to their fine motor skills in the progressive organisation of strokes and letters. Extracts from different pages of Howitt’s National School of Progressive Copybooks - copybook 1 (nd), p. 1, 3, 5 and 7, London: A. Willis.

Figure 54. Letters are group according to the number of strokes. Card 6 from The Dryad Writing Cards (1932), Leicester: The Dryad Press.

Figure 55. Primary form organisation categorises letters in groups with similar visual features. From Writing and Writing Patterns booklet 1 and 2 (1935), p. 14 and 18, London: University of London Press.

scheme. Nevertheless, the majority of schemes use different kinds of organising and presenting letters. These organisation systems can be categorised into four groups: - Progressive organisation: Schemes that worked within this premise usually showed diagonal strokes first and a letter that resembles it afterwards. Then, other letters are introduced, but always “evolving” from the previously presented letter. An example is Howitt’s National School Copybooks, as shown in figure 53. - Stroke organisation: On this system, schemes organised letters depending on the number of strokes they are made of, that is, how many pen lift or radical pen directions are within a single letter. This system was used mostly on Italic handwriting, such as the Dryad Handwriting Cards (figure 54). - Ascenders and descenders organisation: As its name stated, schemes that worked like this organised small letters depending on whether they just occupied the x-height or if they had ascenders or descenders. - Primary form organisation: This method was first introduced properly by Marion Richardson and grouped letters that resemble each other. They are usually presented with a pattern that allows children to work on their fine motor skills before practising the actual letters. An example of this is shown in figure 55 . Another matter when it comes to introducing letters to children is whether capitals or small letters are presented first. Although the convention was to present small letters first, this changed with Marion Richardson, who introduced capitals first. Due to her scheme’s popularity, this approach was later used by other publishers and authors. It is feasible to believe that this is the best order in which to present letters (capitals first, small letters afterwards), mainly because children develop the fine motor skills needed to draw small letters through capitals. Within the layout and design characteristics, the most complex one is the use of lines. Although materials used on the first half of the twentieth century can simply be grouped based on whether they use them or not, it is a far a more complicated issue. This is mainly due, as the examples given in the previous section show, to materials using lines in a different way or with different purposes. Nevertheless, similarities appeared, and connections can be drawn. 45

Figure 56. Illustration of the guide line system grid on the first and last copybooks of different schemes. a. guide lines from Howitt’s National School of Progressive Copybooks - copybook 1 (nd), London: A. Willis. b. guide lines from Vere Foster’s Bold Writing Series (1880), London, Glasgow & Mombay: Blackie & Son. c. guide lines from Practical Handwriting (1955), London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son.

Although these materials use lines in different ways, an aspect that they all have in common is how the guide lines’ system worked within the schemes. On most examples analysed, there is a simple idea behind the use of lines: the more practice children have on handwriting, fewer guide lines are needed. Examples of this concept can be found in almost every copybook set, as their first numbers used guided lines to indicate different elements and progressively eliminate them to allow children to write on their own. Different examples are displayed in figure 56, which illustrates guide lines’ grid of different publications. From this simple premise of progressively eliminating guide lines, every scheme works in its own way when it comes to lines.

Figure 57. A young child’s original patterns drawing in different colours. Samples property of Sue Walker.

Most of them use horizontal lines to indicate the x-height, but how ascenders and descenders are indicated (if so) varies, as well as the angle of inclination, if displayed and the middle of the x-height in some cases. Different kinds of lines were used for these purposes, but again they do not have a relationship between schemes. Normal lines, dotted lines, dashed lines and variations of them appear in the analysed examples, but while, for example, dotted lines are used to indicate ascenders and descenders’ height, in others, they are used to show letterforms. This supports the idea that no relationship on the use of guide lines exists beyond the progressive premise of eliminating them as children have more experienced or the use of horizontal lines to show the x-height. There is enough evidence to believe that the most significant change when it comes to the visual attributes of handwriting publications for children on the first half of the twentieth century is how, from Marion Richardson’s Writing and Writing Patterns onwards, publications of this kind tend to be less restrictive to children, not using guided lines to indicate height or length, but rather just giving models to work with on their own way. On guided lines, Burnhill undertook a study called ‘Writing Lines: An Explanatory Study’ (1975), in which he analysed children’s handwriting with and without lined papers, concluding that benefits are evident when lines are used. Burnhill points out that linear organization of words on unlined paper became ‘chaotic’ and that legibility increases considerably when children wrote on lined papers. Nevertheless, on the writer of this research’s point of view, there are other elements to consider beyond legibility. Although handwriting schemes with guide lines improve children’s handwriting legibility, do they provide the same freedom and allow them to explore their own style? Examples of this creativity and freedom are clearly shown in Marion Richardson’s examples on figure 57 .Furthermore, it could be argued that guide lines could be too restrictive for children with undeveloped fine motor skills, while white sheets of papers and models from a textbook could allow them to learn letterforms and writing at their own pace. Although there is still an ongoing discussion within the education community about guided lines and their benefits for children, the changes on handwriting materials’ layout in the first half of the twentieth century allowed these discussions to arise in the first place. Moreover, it is reasonable to believe that these changes also allowed children to be more creative in their handwriting.

Limitations The most significant limitation that restricts this research is the lack of access to relevant materials. As mentioned in the research methods section, this dissertation is based on the analysis of material from two main collections and their selection was based on the existing literature about them. Nonetheless, there are several publications to which access was impossible, such as Henry Gordon’s Handwriting and How to Teach it or John Jackson’s set of copybooks New Style Vertical Handwriting. These publications are relevant to this visual research since they are notable examples as Sassoon (2007) mentioned in her book Handwriting of the Twentieth Century. The lack of access to materials also extends to publications studied on this dissertation. For example, copybooks are a set of several publications and in some cases in this research; it was not possible to have access to all of the copybooks within a scheme, limitating the analysis to two or three materials instead of the whole series. This could have an impact on the way the visual representation of schemes is interpreted since only partial information (eg, five copybooks instead of twelve) is available. This was the case for The Model Copybooks, Vere Foster’s Medium series and Philip’s ‘Semi-Upright’ Copybooks complete set.

Conclusion As shown in this research, the characteristics of visual representation of schemes of teaching cursive handwriting in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century could be categorised into three major groups: type of material; format and production; and design and layout. The latter challenging to conventions at the time because of the growing number of handwriting styles that developed during this period, which allowed authors to experiment on the way children visualised handwriting through schemes of work. The most important change within design practices at the time when it comes to cursive handwriting materials, the writer of this dissertation argues, was how, from Marion Richardsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Writing and Writing Patterns onwards, most publications disregard the use of lines, presumably allowing children to have fewer restrictions and more freedom to develop their handwriting at their own pace. As this research provides a useful insight on cursive handwriting publications used in the first half of the twentieth century in Britain, it seems inevitable to recommend further research on the subject. As publications like Vere Foster Copybooks and Marion Richardsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scheme had an influence on materials and schemes on their time, another analytical study could describe the current characteristics of schemes used in Britain and see if possible connections can be drawn between relevant documents analysed on this dissertation. Another study could analyse childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s handwriting in copybooks of this period, trying to recognise if the layout design described in this study had an impact in the way children draw letters and composed paragraphs.

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