An American Cursive

"Right Around the Corner"

Michael Round

May 20, 2009

"Come now," Mr. Spencer said.  "Here is your first lesson."  He took something from his pocket and placed it in her hand.

Matty squinted and moved her hand into a shaft of sunlight.  A granite pebble lay in her palm.  Flecks of mica caught the sunlight and glittered.

"That's the shape you must always keep in mind, the oval of a pebble found on Lake Erie's shore.  There are no more perfect shapes than the ones nature has given us.  Those are the shapes that must flow through your letters."

A Pebble and a Pen

Joan Donaldson

Lake Erie - and any lake or waterway for that matter - have beautifully shaped oval pebbles.  Nature is remarkable.  But what is the "first lesson" Mr. Spencer is talking about in reference to?  Who is Mr. Spencer?

Platt Rogers Spencer was born in New York, 1800, had a fondness for writing, and by age 15 was already teaching a writing class.  It's impossible for us to put ourselves back in time 200 years, but imagine no computers, no Blackberrys, no phones, and little paper.

And not too far removed from British rule!

To Spencer, the European influence remained - in our style of writing.  Copperplate and roundhand styles dominated the cursive-landscape.  Combinations of separate and individual strokes.  It was painstaking.  It was slow.  And it was unnatural.

Spencer sought a cursive particularly suited to our needs - an American cursive!

And it would be based on the laws of nature - of flowing movements, of ellipses, of directness - all done while not fatiguing the writer.

Spencer developed this unique style - Spencerian Script - and opened writing schools to promote it.  Can you imagine?  Schools for writing!

His course looked something like this:

and examples of the writing style are easily found by Googling "Spencerian Script" under "Images", or clicking here:

Spencerian Script Images

Spencer passed away in 1864 in Geneva, Ohio, on the SE corner of Lake Erie, and is interred at Evergreen Cemetery.

The "Golden Age of Ornamental Penmanship", lasted from 1850 to 1925.  And Spencerian Script?  Cursive in general?  If you have kids, you probably know the fate of cursive in many schools.  It's not taught.

But the fight goes on!  For beauty in writing!  For pride in one's ability to communicate!  For demonstration one has taken the time to formulate an idea well, and cares about how it looks - to themselves and for the intended recipient.

Life matters!

And the person leading the charge - perhaps the leading Spencerian Script penman in the world - lives .... right around the corner.

Michael Sull.

Here's how he did my wife's name in flourishing and ornamental Spencerian Script!