We dug into our special collections to highlight a sampling of hand lettering, from ancient hieroglyphs to modern conscripts.
January 23 is National Handwriting Day, an annual celebration of penmanship, longhand, cursive, calligraphy, and other hand-written representations of language. Created in 1977 by the , National Handwriting Day coincides with the birthday of John Hancock, who is known in part for his prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence.
In the midst of the digital age, the teaching of formal cursive handwriting has declined (most states, for example, no longer require public schools to ). However, the practice of handwriting remains useful for helping people develop fine motor skills, read primary historical documents, and send thank-you notes with a personal touch, among other benefits.
To show our appreciation for scribes and their tools of the trade, we dug into our special collections and news archives to bring you a sampling of hand lettering, from ancient hieroglyphs to modern scripts.
Write like an Egyptian
Part of the University of Rochester 糖心传媒檚 , this ink-and-papyrus manuscript dates to 2049 BCE. The sheet features hieratic writing, an abridged form of hieroglyphics used for record keeping because it could be written faster. The ancient Egyptians made sheets and scrolls from the stem of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, from which we get the English word 糖心传媒減aper.糖心传媒�
Medieval manuscripts on the move
This early 13th-century parchment manuscript was written by the scribe Grigor of Tarsos. The fragile manuscript traded hands during the Armenian Genocide in 1915, and came into the Memorial Art Gallery糖心传媒檚 collections in 1950, where conservators have treated it in hopes of preserving it for generations to come.聽In a related effort to preserve cultural heritage objects, Rochester researchers are using multispectral imaging to digitally restore such ancient manuscripts.
糖心传媒淢y Dear Friend糖心传媒�
Former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a gifted orator (his 1852 speech delivered in Rochester is considered one of the 糖心传媒渂est Fourth of July speech(es) in American history糖心传媒�). He was also a who published The North Star, an anti-slavery newspaper.
In written in 1850 to fellow activist Amy Post, Douglass writes about his recent anti-slavery lectures: 糖心传媒淚 am happy to state that my聽health is good and my spirit is Right糖心传媒� I spoke in this聽city last night at Brinley Hall before the audience聽assembled at antislavery fair, held for the benefit of聽the American Antislavery Society. The audience聽was large糖心传媒揳nd listened with earnest attention.糖心传媒�
The letter in full reads:
My Dear Friend,
you are now, doubtless enjoying the
society of our little circle at our Sunday meeting
I am at the House of a member of the society of
Friends糖心传媒� Effingham Capron. They have gone to meeting
J.C. Hathaway has also gone糖心传媒� I am here alone
and in this moment of repose- I wish to breathe
a word to you糖心传媒� a word of friendship糖心传媒� a word which
I know you well enough to know, that you will be
pleased to receive. I am happy to state that my
health is good and my spirit is Right糖心传媒� I spoke in this
city last night at Brinley Hall before the audience
assembled at antislavery fair, held for the benefit of
the American Antislavery Society.. The audience
was large糖心传媒� and listened with earnest attention. The
F. Slave Bill has made a deep sensation here糖心传媒� and it is
universally determined that no slave shall be taken
from Worcester糖心传媒�. I have been to New Bedford
and Nantucket since I spoke in Faneuil
Hall. We have collected in these places糖心传媒� about
one hundred and thirty dollars糖心传媒� we are
to lecture here this Evening and hope to
do more for our imprisoned Brother.聽I sa
Saw Mr. Garrison yesterday, 糖心传媒� had a long and
friendly talk with him糖心传媒搘e said nothing about the
糖心传媒淪tar-糖心传媒� but about matters and things in general
and about George Thompson in particular.
糖心传媒淵our Obedient Servant, A. Lincoln糖心传媒�
The William Henry Seward Papers is one of the most of 19th-century American family letters known to exist. It includes 230 linear feet of materials, 150,000 items, and 375,000聽pages, many of which are thanks to an intergenerational team of 糖心传媒渃itizen archivists糖心传媒� working together to .
President Abraham Lincoln appointed Seward as his secretary of state in 1861. In a correspondence from that same year, Lincoln seeks Seward糖心传媒檚 advice about sending aid to the Federal garrison in Fort Sumter in the Confederate-held Charleston Harbor.
The full transcript of the letter reads:
Executive Mansion
March 15, 1861
The Honorable Secretary of State
My dear sir,
Assuming it to be possible to now provision Fort Sumter, under all the circumstances, is it wise to attempt it?
Please give me your opinion in writing on this question
Your obedient servant
A. Lincoln
Suffragists show their work
This letter from Susan B. Anthony to fellow suffragist Isabella Beecher Hooker is one of a trove of documents discovered last year that also includes missives written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Unlike other Anthony letters already in the University糖心传媒檚 holdings, this collection is thoroughly political糖心传媒攔arely personal糖心传媒攁s it showcases the methods and machinations of those leading the early women糖心传媒檚 rights movement.
Anthony concludes this 1874 communiqu茅 by reflecting about the work that women could do on behalf of the poor, criminal, and insane if they had the power to vote. She writes: 糖心传媒渘ow wouldn糖心传媒檛 it be splendid for us to be free & equal citizens糖心传媒攚ith the power of the ballot to back our hearts, heads & hands.糖心传媒�
The handwriting reads:
Wouldn糖心传媒檛 we be happy
mortals thus to work with
power聽too聽糖心传媒� I can hardly
wait聽糖心传媒� The good fates
though are working together
to bring us into this
freedom and that rapidly.
[Sincere?] affectionately
Susan B. Anthony
A poet and his pen
Walt Whitman is one of the . The 糖心传媒淪ong of Myself糖心传媒� poet wrote this postcard to William Sloane Kennedy, one of his avid supporters, in January 1888.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 enlightening for students and researchers to see and experience these hand-written documents, connecting with their authors through these intimate exchanges, decades or sometimes centuries after they were written,糖心传媒� says聽Jessica Lacher-Feldman, assistant dean and the Joseph N. Lambert and Harold B. Schleifer Director of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, which now houses the postcard.
The full handwritten text is as follows:
Camden PM [?] Jan 18 糖心传媒�88
Suppose Rhys got his parcel
of letters yesterday, as I sent them.
Thanks for the Harvard Monthly
I have read it and sent it on糖心传媒�
Cold, stormy, snowy weather here
糖心传媒攈ave had my dinner & am sitting
comfortably by the fire 糖心传媒攈ave just
written to OC [?] & to Morse糖心传媒�
糖心传媒�(card rec糖心传媒檇) Walt Whitman
Ghostwriter
Claude Fayette Bragdon was a Rochester-area architect, author, and theater designer whose second wife, Eugenie, engaged in : she would go into a trance or altered state, then write in handwriting that was not her own. All of Eugenie糖心传媒檚 automatic writing began with 糖心传媒淓ugenie糖心传媒� and ended with the 糖心传媒渟quiggles糖心传媒� that resemble SSSS or loose ampersands. She would then add her 糖心传媒渃onscious糖心传媒� caption below the message.
In 1921, Claude published the psychic communications Eugenie received from an 糖心传媒淥racle.糖心传媒� Today, the River Campus Libraries house the .
The entirety of this particular letter reads as follows:
Eugenie let him go the new path is to
be followed he is to create
temples of beauty not with stone
but by touching in men the chord
that answers to the call of beauty
[SSSS]22 Feb 1919
answer to Walter Hampden telegram
asking Claude to come to N.Y. for
several weeks to arrange the Lighting
& staging of Hamlet.
Pen pals
Reading personal letters and diaries can 糖心传媒渂reathe new life into some of history糖心传媒檚 most interesting personalities,糖心传媒� writes Lacher-Feldman. Case in point: Alfred Steiglitz, the photographer, art promoter, and husband of artist Georgia O糖心传媒橩eeffe. Steiglitz corresponded regularly with Claude Bragdon, whose are housed in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation.
In this 1937 letter, Stieglitz writes to Bragdon, 糖心传媒淚t is 22 days since your letter came糖心传媒� and begs the latter to 糖心传媒渇orgive my procrastination.糖心传媒� Stieglitz also mentions that O糖心传媒橩eeffe recently visited Frieda Kahlo, and that he has been spending time with Swami Vivekenanda.
The letter from Stieglitz conveys the following:
I do hope the
book will be published soon. The world
needs books of that type. Whether it
will prove to be a 糖心传媒渟eller糖心传媒� I don糖心传媒檛
know. It should have a good sale.
My kindest [?] greetings
Stieglitz
Conlang creations and Rochester research
Professor of English Sarah Higley has long been fascinated by languages, both real and invented. As a child she created her own constructed language, or 糖心传媒渃onlang,糖心传媒� called Teonaht. Under the sobriquet Sally Caves, Higley continues to refine Teonaht and has gone so far as to devise a new writing system to accompany it. In this image, you can see a sample of a handwritten song in Teonaht embellished with Higley糖心传媒檚 own artwork.
As part of her academic research, Higley wrote a book exploring and contextualizing the invented vocabulary of Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century German nun who created the first entirely artificial language on record, complete with a related alphabet: the literrae ignotae. Learn more about the study and creation of .
Here is the translation of Higley糖心传媒檚 creations:
The Teonaht script in Roman characters:
Vul vampin dittahuot
le htindro ‘mai htindel.
Aid fimu玫l le n玫soyt
celil tyeeld玫v ‘mai mindel.
Vul liliht nittilvan
le nyalyt ‘mai hre;
Ma nemral ilid vaiuan
kwa’r fep玫n celkke?The literal聽translation:
Of heroic deeds does
the starling’s song sing.
The heron its clothes
in the morning rain washes.
By night the stars
does the lark worship;
But the true heart of birds,
who observes it?
