Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting

200 Pages·2009·6.5 MB·English

by  Kitty Burns Florey

Script & Scribble
PRAISE FOR
“This is a book every writer would love, a curio cabinet on the art and
act of writing.”
—Amy Tan, author of Saving Fish from Drowning
“A winsome mix of memoir and call to arms … An entertaining history.”
—Chicago Tribune, Editor’s Choice
“A witty and readable (and fetchingly illustrated and glossed) excursion
through the history of handwriting.”
—Cullen Murphy, The Wall Street Journal
“Highly enjoyable … Witty and often endearingly autobiographical.”
—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
“A charming, illustrated eulogy to a craft that’s fast losing its place in
the modern world.”
—Financial Times
“Florey’s argument is nostalgic yet pragmatic. ‘It seems wrong,’ she says,
‘when something beautiful, useful, and historically important vanishes.’
Charmingly composed and handsomely presented, Script and Scribble just
might provoke a handwriting revival.”
—The Boston Globe
“[A] pithy account of the history of handwriting … Florey makes a solid
case for handwriting as a social indicator, and her affection for its art is
thoughtful and aesthetically informed.”
—Albert Mobilio, Bookforum
“Kitty Burns Florey’s charming history of the rise and fall of handwriting
is a loving and polished tribute to a modest but deeply civilizing skill
that can make our words not only intelligible to others but, like this
book, sweet and beautiful.”
—David Skinner, author of The Story of Ain’t: America, Its Language, and
the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever Published
“Florey … lovingly traces the history of handwriting, from its ancient
birth to its imminent demise.”
—Sam Anderson, New York
“What in God’s name has happened to penmanship? It’s easy to blame
the computer, but, as Kitty Burns Florey demonstrates in her thoughtful,
witty, and sensible book, the story goes far deeper than that. It touches
on the way we think, the way we write, and the way we lead our lives.
Read Script & Scribble and be enlightened.”
—Ben Yagoda, author of When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of
Speech, for Better And/Or Worse
“Part memoir, part meticulously researched primer, [this] captivating
history of handwriting is a lovely ode to a nearly lost art.”
—ReadyMade
“Frank and engaging.”
—Rain Taxi
ALSO BY KITTY BURNS FLOREY
SISTER BERNADETTE’S BARKING DOG
SOLOS
SOUVENIR OF COLD SPRINGS
FIVE QUESTIONS
VIGIL FOR A STRANGER
DUET
REAL LIFE
THE GARDEN PATH
CHEZ CORDELIA
FAMILY MATTERS

© 2009 KITTY BURNS FLOREY
FIRST MELVILLE HOUSE PRINTING OF
THE PAPERBACK EDITION: SEPTEMBER 2013
MELVILLE HOUSE PUBLISHING
145 PLYMOUTH STREET
BROOKLYN, NY 11201
AND
8 BLACKSTOCK MEWS
ISLINGTON
LONDON N4 2BT
MHPBOOKS.COM FACEBOOK.COM/MHPBOOKS @MELVILLEHOUSE
978-1-61219305-2 (ebook) THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED
THE HARDCOVER EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FOLLOWS: FLOREY, KITTY BURNS.
SCRIPT AND SCRIBBLE : THE RISE AND FALL OF HANDWRITING / KITTY BURNS FLOREY.
P. CM.
ISBN: 978-1-933633-67-1
1. PENMANSHIP. 2. PENMANSHIP, AMERICAN — HISTORY
3. WRITING — MATERIALS AND INSTRUMENTS — HISTORY.
4. GRAPHOLOGY. I. TITLE.
Z43.F58 2008
652’.1—DC22
2008026964
v3.1
For Eileen and Rosamond
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Preface: A Handwritten Life
1. Pen, Paper, Ink—A Stroll Through Handwriting History
2. The Golden Age of Penmanship
3. Father Michon and My Aunt Fanny
4. Writing by Hand in a Digital Age
5. Is Handwriting Important?
Bibliography
Image Credits
Acknowledgements
A true source of human happiness
lies in taking a genuine
interest in all the details of daily life
and elevating them by art.
WILLIAM MORRIS