THE HANDS OF JOHANNES WHISLER: A HISTORICAL STUDY OF HANDWRITING AND DRAWING by Matthew Capezzuto Dissertation Committee: Professor Judith M. Burton, Sponsor Professor Michael Hanchett Hanson Approved by the Committee on the Degree of Doctor of Education Date February 10, 2021 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in Teachers College, Columbia University 2021 ABSTRACT THE HANDS OF JOHANNES WHISLER: A HISTORICAL STUDY OF HANDWRITING AND DRAWING Matthew Capezzuto The Book of Arithmetic Problems of Johannes Whisler (1814-1815), a mathematics exercise book in the collection of the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, is the central object of this study. This handwritten and illuminated book, created by a young Pennsylvania German man in the early 19th century, prompts a reevaluation of handwriting and doodling, with implications for the present era. The author documents the biographical and sociocultural circumstances surrounding the creation of Whisler’s cyphering book through primary and secondary historical research and applies Glăveanu’s theory of distributed creativity to describe the book as a creative process that emerged among people and objects, and across time. As direct indices of immediate actions, handwriting and doodling emerge in moment-to-moment action, even as these actions are embedded in longer periods of developmental and historical change; the author documents Whisler’s handwriting flourishes and doodles and describes the particular qualities of these mark making activities with reference to the sociocultural context in which they appear, Werner’s theories regarding the physiognomic perception of symbols, and Stern’s theory of vitality forms. The dissertation concludes with educational implications of the research, which include considerations of the use of handwriting as a component of art education and the future of handwriting as an affective and cross-modal medium. © Copyright Matthew Capezzuto 2021 All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With her depth of experience and clarity of vision, my dissertation sponsor and academic advisor Judith Burton has been a constant inspiration and a reliable compass throughout the entire process. Likewise, Professor Michael Hanchett Hanson, in his seminars and in our conversations, patiently and astutely guided me through theories of creativity and gave me the confidence to apply them. Professor Olga Hubard encouraged my first formal forays into museum education, including a fellowship at the American Folk Art Museum, from which this study sprang. I am grateful to the staff at the American Folk Art Museum—particularly Rachel Rosen, Stacy Hollander, Ann-Marie Reilly, and Andreane Balconi—for providing access to the Book of Arithmetic Problems of Johannes Whisler. The staff at the Cumberland County Historical Society were likewise generous with their time and assistance in finding documents related to Johannes Whisler. Artist-educators Christine Heindl and Ryan Dawalt provided much-needed perspective in the trial coding of Whisler’s mark making. Christine’s formative influence on me, as one of my painting professors at Ohio University, cannot be overstated. Thanks are owed to my brother, Joe, for giving the dissertation an earnest read and offering his invaluable advice and encouragement; to my aunt Marie for providing peace of mind in uncertain times; and my parents for always nurturing my imagination. My parents-in-law 박명제 (Myungje Park) and 문경자 (Kyungja Moon) have lent material and moral support, and supreme patience, over the years. Finally, I thank my wife, Hyejung Bahk, for planting in my head the thought that I could do this at all. M. C. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS I – INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 Background to the Problem ..................................................................................... 2 Dialogical Space .......................................................................................... 6 A Focus on Doodling ................................................................................... 9 Presentation of the Problem ................................................................................... 11 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................... 13 Interactions Among People and Things ..................................................... 13 Material Culture as Historical Text ........................................................... 20 Mark Making and Symbol Making as Organismic Activities ................... 20 Assumptions Not to Be Debated ........................................................................... 28 Assumptions to Be Debated .................................................................................. 29 Limitations ............................................................................................................. 29 Role of the Researcher ............................................................................... 30 Settings for Research ................................................................................. 31 The American Folk Art Museum, New York City. ....................... 31 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. .............................................. 31 Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City. ...................................................................................... 31 Winterthur Library, Delaware (accessed online). .......................... 31 Conceptual Limitations .............................................................................. 32 Educational Implications ....................................................................................... 32 Overview of Dissertation Chapters ........................................................................ 34 Summary ................................................................................................................ 36 II – LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................... 38 A History of Whisler’s Book ................................................................................. 40 Whisler’s Book as a Retention of the Past ................................................ 41 The cyphering tradition in the Old World. .................................... 41 Pennsylvania German education at the nascence of the republic. 44 The roles of cyphering books in rural American education. ......... 52 The role of fraktur throughout Whisler’s cyphering book. ........... 59 The historical sources of fraktur. ................................................... 62 The Shift in Historical Perspective ............................................................ 66 Bringing Whisler’s book into the light of modern scholarship. .... 71 Clarence Spohn and Amos Hoover. .............................................. 74 Ralph Esmerian and the American Folk Art Museum. ................. 76 The History’s Conclusion .......................................................................... 77 Calligraphy and Handwriting in Whisler’s Milieu ................................................ 78 The Origins of Early Modern Scripts ........................................................ 80 The Development of Round Hand ............................................................. 83 John Jenkins: Handwriting for a New Republic. ........................... 87 Elementary parts. ........................................................................... 90 iv Summary ................................................................................................................ 93 III – METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 95 Codicological Method ........................................................................................... 96 Data Collection ...................................................................................................... 98 Treatment of the Data ............................................................................................ 98 Identifying “Doodling” in Whisler’s Handwriting .................................... 98 Visualizations .......................................................................................... 101 Reproductions of Details ......................................................................... 102 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................... 103 Comparisons to Handwriting Copybooks ................................................ 103 Comparisons to Contemporaneous Cyphering Books ............................. 104 John Eckman (1804; Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania). .............................................................................. 105 Jacob Myers (Mayer) (1805-06; Virginia [possibly Berkeley County, now in West Virginia]). ................................................. 107 Weeden Rider (1795-1803; Rensselaerville, New York). ........... 107 Peggey Clayton (1776; Windsor, Bertie County, North Carolina). ..................................................................................... 111 Comparisons to Whisler’s Drawings and Ornamental Page Headings ... 112 Summary .............................................................................................................