John Jenkins (penmanship)
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/The_Art_of_Writing_by_John_Jenkins%2C_Frontispiece%2C_1813_SAAM-1988.62.1_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-The_Art_of_Writing_by_John_Jenkins%2C_Frontispiece%2C_1813_SAAM-1988.62.1_%28cropped%29.jpg)
John Jenkins (1755–1822) was an American schoolteacher who wrote the first entirely American book on penmanship, The Art of Writing, Reduced to a Plain and Easy System, first printed in 1791 by Isaiah Thomas.[1] It consisted of 32 pages of text, four plates of engraved writing samples and a frontispiece.[2] It was recommended by John Adams,[2] Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock.[1] Jenkins' system became the standard in America,[2] and a revised second edition was published in 1813 by Flagg & Gould.[3]
See also
[edit]- Platt Rogers Spencer, who created a later writing system
References
[edit]- ^ a b Jill Gage (January 22, 2018). "Righting the Penmanship of America". Newberry Library.
- ^ a b c Christen, Richard S. (2012). "John Jenkins and "The Art of Writing": Handwriting and Identity in the Early American Republic". The New England Quarterly. 85 (3): 491–525. doi:10.1162/TNEQa00210 (inactive 31 January 2024). JSTOR 23251389.
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: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link) - ^ "The Art of Writing...Book I..." Metropolitan Museum of Art.
External links
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