George Bickham's Penmanship Made Easy (Young Clerks Assistant). This item is unavailable.George Bickham's Penmanship Made Easy (Young Clerks Assistant)

Unabridged reprint of extremely rare 18th-century manual offers helpful hints on forming letters, holding the pen, arm and wrist positions, and posture. Includes rich sampling of alphabets, maxims, didactic verses, and other words of advice. Charmingly illustrated instruction manual for calligraphers, commercial artists,and devoteés of fine penmanship.

George Bickham was an enterprising eighteenth-century engraver and calligrapher who promoted the practice of proper penmanship. This volume, an unabridged reprint of his now extremely rare calligraphy manual, The Young Clerks Assistant, provided "young practitioners" with much valuable information on how to write not only legibly but also with beauty and grace.
The book begins with "Directions for Learners," a series of helpful hints on forming letters, holding the pen, arm and wrist positions, proper posture, and so on, followed by a wealth of calligraphic specimens: alphabets, maxims, didactic verses, and other words of advice for elevating the moral standards of the young.
For modern calligraphers, Bickham's guide offers an abundance of models for imitation and provides a delightful look back at the instruction manuals and teaching methods of the mid-1700s. Enhanced with many charming engravings, this hard-to-find antique teaching tool can be read as easily for pleasure as for inspiration. It will appeal to calligraphers, graphic artists, and any devotee of fine penmanship.
Unabridged Dover (1997) republication of The Young Clerks Assistant, as published by Richard Ware, London [ca. 1733].