Andrea here, musing today on writing. Or specifically, on handwriting. An old friend of mine wrote me a note about the blog I did on letterpress printing, and shared her own love of letterforms with a sample of the Zen calligraphy, which she’s been studying (and teaching) for a number of years.
I’m in awe of people who can create such beautiful art—for in my opinion, letters are true art. And that got me to thinking about handwriting. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have TERRIBLE handwriting. (right) It’s embarrassing, as I was an art major, should be able to create a nicer 
looking page than my pitiful scrawl. I try to explain it away by the fact that I’m slightly dyslexic. In typing I tend to transpose letters all the time. (You don’t want to try to read a paragraph that I type in hurry—it’s scary.) And when writing by hand, I do tend to mix up which letter comes next, especially if I try to rush. I have to be really careful at book signings to get a person’s name spelled right. (It’s actually rather stressful.)
But my own shortcoming don’t stop me from admiring the art of writing by hand. Illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages are glorious examples—I love their exquisite combination of form, color and illustration. I also really love the poetry of Arabic script. (below) It has such lovely movement and grace. And then there’s the copperplate script that was de rigeuer for ladies and gentlemen of the 19th century.
Getting back to my own illegible scratchings, I decided to take a look at the handwriting of some historical authors 
of note to see how their pens fared. Jane Austen’s early works shows an elegant hand, as well as a delightful talent for sketching. Her later work maintains that same smooth flow.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s manuscript for The Great Gatsby shows a very neat and controlled script. (left) Hmmm, I wonder if several martinis helped to round the 
letterforms. Thoreau had a lovely, lyrical flow to his penmanship–his letters look like birds in flight. (below-left) Conan-Doyle has the sort of precise orderliness one would expect from a from his cerebral Sherlock Holmes. (below-middle) Dickens, however, makes me feel a little better. His handwriting doesn’t conjure the word “artistic.” (below-right)
And neither does the handwriting of J. K, Rowling, though the idea that she can create such intricate plotting outlines gives me the heebie-jeebies!
I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll never win any awards for penmanship. What about you? Do you have good handwriting? Do you appreciate a the art of penmanship—or are you just as happy with printed pages and audiobooks?
