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Issue 37 June 2009 ISSN 1468_9532 1Add.rcss, Edited by Nicholas Caulkin 203 Dyas Avenue, Great Barr, Birmingham 842 lHN, England rTrL ' .Lnmi{ f lzan rua.l.te iluqtw pnyahb a'th,e S t H, q/il, smd, t1 : -> -Nftl'wLA Cd4,ndh:nL,Sn; zoj eaz An.,Qna,f Ban: B'l4d,rn B+z tHN Contributors A Word from the Chair: Foster Neville Thejollowing people have contributed to this edition: - Sherwin Bailey, James Constant, David Elvy, William Italic handwriting has long lost grip public Gardner,.Edward Johnston, Thomas Laudy, Art Maier, its on the consciousness. There was a time in the 1950s when, to Foster Neville, nickthenibs, L,en Perry, Russell Robertson, judge Lewis Trethewey & Gordon Wratten. from the extensive newspaper cuttings in the Society's archive, everybody knew about it and was trying to reform their hands. Not being able to do it of course didn't prevent anyone being Prime Minister or a lawyer, Squarc by Ken Bartlett and certainly not a doctor. It was about projecting an image of yourself as you wished to be seen onto the page. This was an age of quick brown foxes and lazy dogs that was firmly aspirational. It was the era of the well- produced book - such as Wilfrid Blunt's Sweet Roman Hand - concerned with the Italic hand's history, practice and application in the 2oth century. Now it would have to be a website (such as we will be shortly launching), an interactive DVD or even a Wii (Write - yes write! - like Nick Caulkin'. There would also be Jack Trodd, Paul Standard and Alfred Fairbank settings). It is strange however, at a time when society is so obsessed with appearances, that writing Italic should be such a little sought out art. We have experts to vet our wardrobes so that we may project the right image and yet who hasn't received a note or letter where a poor impression of the writer was formed because of the handwriting? The rarity of the handwritten in an age of texts, emails (and Blackberries, or is it Blueberries, or even Burberries?) only lends added significance to those who still strive to write well. There is no doubt however that this is a generation for rvhom the usefulness of handwriting has largely come to an end, and it may be @ The SocietyJor Italic Handwriting 2009 discussed in the same way that are pot lids, old buttons Copyright is held by the SI'LI wtch thc rights ossigned rc thc originol aurhors. and clay pipes. If people think of handwriting at all it's The views ond opinions exprcssed ore those oJ the outhors ond nor neccssorils. oJ thc SIH. probably with regard to historical documents in a museum or items bid for on ebay. Even doctors have Front cotcr designed h; nickhcnibs patient management systems in place of the old medical The SIH is o rcgistered charitl'nunbcr 2E7EE9R Rcrcnuc numbu X99153.1 24 records cards (personally I shall miss the candour it was ,/ possible to find in some of those!). Good handwriting is Zoua-Lit now thought of as something to be seen only in special collections, like Hepplewhite chairs. But whereas finding y'P12 ,4*/ twr'a' -' a piece of Georgian furniture or an undiscovered Rembrandt in your loft or garden shed may get you a few column inches in a newspaper, being an Italic mud lark r/*, ttul'/,rt4 ,[*,{6/ will not. rlr rfrn, nil/ tfir'nl(rt Even in the 1950s Italic handwriting had something of the ,z/u rfaaut rzfu,t t'l ittlal,4r collectors'item built-in to it though. To do it well, which iouvfrft ,r/f lrl/bfifiT has always been the aim - no half measures with Italic, required a good deal of historical detective work and more T,u squ,qqdj ntl lct'-ufrlt/ than a little engagrng with the past. In the frfties the /,/i /A,ik?t o/ tr,trr ra'zfrht/ /fufrttrltorl,'l/e' Society had a large number of weekly classes in the ntrt London area, at Goldsmith's College, Morley College and a f /ru[ number of Literary Institutes across London; week-end a/tvt 22/t hruLleu h rh,'LrL/t' courses at Jordan's Hostel near Beaconsfield run by ,i ir Eib h-nu Alfred Fairbank no less. Now it's all gone. Word processed ,ttrh expense accounts emailed in probably seem much less n ,rii*rf or 74ur -16 personally accountable than ones written in your own , ;hri'r 4 lbr4f I. .furtrc hand. trk -a//br lao ;/zr,tp This Societ5r was recovering a lost art in the early 1950s. f'/: zt,/ lo lxrtft'zt1 Then it was the tools, the dreaded ball-point against the "Ti/ til/t iat/rur/"^z edged ink pen, which was the concern of many of its al/ : 16*q members and the public alike. The SIH is still recovering '/utt)n'r'f the lost art of handwriting today and reviving the second !..Hi! ?a:r' +.fu!// /f-/ R, but now with modern methods. I like to think of Italic T/,/ti Ptrqt JlUultt Ur rtP-Pt// as a prized collectable in a throwaway age. It's a durable tn l'-T;t, i''i b k tc./P'! style of writing and, as many members will testify, well 4/-. , /-- | worth finding - especially today. - ,/0A /-o ,! Jhr'zl 'l (- z!/ ,// / J0/'t/4 C// n b,"ti t,/ t:'Ooc( rlr4d J David Elvy 2l least fifteen brands, most of which are illustrated in their full colour range on the website: www.thewritingdesk.co.uk. They Notes from nickthenibs also have a large range of writing instruments and paper, etc. AN Aporocv I recently purchased a new Rotring Art Pen with a 1.1 mm In the Signs of the Times letter Legible Handuiting by John nib. I was surprised to see that it was made in the UK, no Smith on page 2l of Issue 36, the word aduert on line 1 doubt the result of Rotring being taken over by Sanford. It should read report Please accept my apologies, John and appears to be identical to the original German pen. It is a all readers for this error. great pity that Sanford have also reduced the size range of the Art Pens. Can anyone tell me where I can buy a Rotring Art Pen with a 0.6 mm nib? RenE Enweno JoHNSToN PosrceRo For ladies who like to carry a small fountain pen, the Pilot On the centre pages of this issue I have included a Birdie is only 110 mm long and less than 9 mm diameter. It reproduction from a postcard of some of Edward Johnston's has a medium nib, but looks and writes as a fine nib. The handwriting. The post card was kindly sent to me by price is less than €10. The pen has a sac filler with a sprung Leonard Perry, which was in the possession of calligrapher stainless steel bar, similar to some earlier Parker pens. The and illuminator Daisy Alcock. The back of the card barrel and cap are stainless steel and the pen weighs just 15 explains that Johnston wrote out the directions for cleaning grams. out a fountain pen for his Uncle Andrew on Christmas Day, 1904. Johnston would have been 26 years old at the time. Lastly, remember that most fountain pen nibs can be re- The original size of the card is 1o4mm by 92 mm and the ground to suit the user. Regrinding has to be carried out by writing is in sepia ink. someone who is skilled in this work. AGM The results of the AGM survey are included in this issue. Many thanks to those members who took the time and trouble to complete and return their forms.