HE 7 s EQ : i fee oupeudiuen of Penmanship leer acl fl Headevsaa* pM focour ieie autfiorities of the Oberlin Business College dedicate this product of le pens of three of its instructors to all young people wlio desire to secure tat invaluable possession, a good Fandtoriting, PREFACE. ‘This Comveypiva ov PRNwWANsITIY is published with the hope that it may prove of great help and ine splration to many ambitious young people. It hax been the aim of ffs authors to give a series of practical copies rather than to make any great display of what is termed “ornamental penmanship.” ‘The originals of these photo-engraved coptes came from the pens of three busy teachers of this College. We trust the ‘compilation may not be found wanting in mertt. A good handwriting may be attained by almost every individual; the Inck of ft indicates a degree of ecarelossnoss which bars one from the employ of many business mien, and thus often causes a serious inane cal loss to the poor writer. On the other hand, « good handwriting often proves to bo the key which opens the way to a successful career. One of our own graduates, owing to his excellent penmanship, was chosen to be the private secretary of @ New York banker, and was soon earning several thousand dollars per year, Without his penmanship he would probably never have attained any such success. ‘The one who bas a good handwriting is always given the preference by businoss men, other things being equal. Itmay at some time turn the seale In your favor. You may sured If you have string encigh desire to do wo. Do wt be apna of ttelient, ersiotent work! Overt, One, Jot, 1901 ‘THE OBERLIN BUSINESS COLLEGE COMPANY.POSITION AND MOVEMENT. POSITION. ‘Tho best postion is that in which the pupil ita directly facing the table, lening slighty forrarl without touctiing {tthe arms resting frooly and evenly on the desk, the left bend! Pate used 0 ijuat the paper; the foct resting squarely on the Goor, the left foot n Uttle fn advanso of Be right. This veuition will give nectemary firmness an ‘well a oase:. Tho pen should be held iighiy betwoct the thumb renin To agers of the right hand, the frst ager resttag on ths tp ot the holder about one tno fom the avintat the pen. ‘The second Auger should ros against the aldo of holder at the root of the ‘Anger nail. "The Popil should rest his hand upon the nails of tho tied and fourth fagere. ‘The wrist shou! n08 tomeh the desk. MOVEMENT. As all good wring is based on muscular movement, the fent thing to do Met» lear Now to ea tes writing sncselon Take positlon at desi aneording to previous tnvtracton, Tet §w9.nst Tm Te the large muscle fost in front of the elbow, the hand resting en the Inst two Bagers Te finger nails forming. widieg vert. Tat the arm roll back snd forth on the lange sole, the sleeve sdnerig desk and the aareaee ine in and out af the sleeve. Do nat move the fingers, The large masolee sbuut the shoulder ‘should do the propelling. INSTRUCTIONS. ‘The exerolies on thin plato abould be praetiond daily. You will Gd cxereess Ut ht plate 10 give sou practi of the hand and arm tn every direstion neuied tn the execution of rapid writing. Te would be well to take up exercises as numbered on the plate,ONE SPACE LETTERS. {Tm making small lettors {tls well to remember that all up strokes are curving and all downward strokes, with fow exceptions, are straight lines. Tet every downward stroke of tho pen be toward the center of the Dody, and the writing will have the correct slant. Nover practice carelessly. Always practice with w free and quick stroke. Tat the movement be bold, free, resting the pen so lightly that the arm, hand and fingers can inove freely together. ‘To make the greatest improvement in the shortest time, practice upon the letters Separately until you can make them all correctly; then take up the Tetter exercises after the forme given fn thie plate, Next take up the short words which we have relected for practice. Do not make heary strokes in business writing. Try to make a light smooth Iin {if you will follow instructions given above you ean soon make light, forma. You should use the exercises in this plate ax daily movement drills, Compare your work often with the copy. You must criticise your ows work, Do not try fo practice too many things In one lesson. ‘Tako up some word or exercise and stick to it until you can gee some Improvement. smooth lines, and make beautiful ONE SEACE LETTERS. Plate & rT , / EIN INGE II SAD Tt nae ee tht tt ae ee ee pg ee De one tet tt tO eee Oe ea ee ee eee OTOL I I II Ce ee ee ne ee a aa AaeniuwsnitwtSEMI-EXTENDED LETTERS. |A variety of styles are used in this plate, Choose the style that seems most practical to you, and practice it until you ean make it easily, rapidly, and accurately, You will nd that placing four or five letters to- gether in an exercise makes a splendid drill, It gives practice in forming letters, and. servi mont exercise at the same time, Hefore taking the long words of this copy you should turn back to Pinte 2 and practice various drills given on that plate for a few minutes. ‘Then take up these words and try to rite the whole word without lifting the pen. ‘This may seem difficult at fist, but good results will quickly follow careful practice. Take up one of the long words and write a whole page, using just the one word, ‘and see if the page presents a uniform appearance. If you can make the words all the same size you are certainly progressing. ‘Try to devote at least one-half hour daily to the practice of penmanship. It will pay you well. Pr SEMLEXTENDED LETTERS. Plate 4. Abb deddd-dideded oboe #ttt ttt Af () Aracthin’ thet drwed dium diati-4- COOP AVAL ALEP ALE TOE FIFI D petoced rn Atumpeblquadsifped—Lar ba petseden4- Geen gee ap hep pee nots hemeUPPER LOOP LETTERS. Study this plate carefully before trying to make the forma. Unless you have a correct idea of the form of a letter woll fixed in your mind, you ean never make that letter nicely. ‘Thus wo can see that it is im- Portant to notice every stroke that is used in a letter If we wonld improve rapidly. ‘Who would become a writer fine, ‘Mom take a deal of pai Mart eriicine his every ‘And mis hie ine eth bral ‘The thoughtful student in penmanship, wt In other studies, will win. ‘Think and write. Practice with perseverance and your sticcess will be certain, Remember about the curving up strokes and downward straight lines, for nowhere can you use this adviee to better advantage than on the work given in this plate. Make upward strokes very eurving in this group. Many fail to make good loops on account of their up- ‘ward strokes being almost straight. Do not shade on down strokes. Notleo the spacing of the letters in ‘words of this plate, Wide spacing encourages free movement, Place the parts of a letter eloso together and then CD Plate 6. Be LS oh Lhd Ahhh Ath A~ ee Ly en LI het ee Blom Ait th Apacahod bed ee pret Aegtn bof Aecipity ipo Aindnetd/ tink Anewtendll honk rs UPPER Loop ‘separate the letters distinctly. JLOWER LOOP LETTERS. Do not forget about the curving strokes and straight lines. ‘They apply to the lower loop letters just the same us to tho upper. Now be gure to have your downward strokes straight and you will bave tele trouble in making this group well. If yow have mastered the letters in Plate 2 ‘a great help ‘upper part of 5” fs just Ike the i," and the upper ‘above the base line Is like “a.” ‘The faet i thus mae prominent again that if you master the form of ono letter it will aid you in the execution of another. Fur these letters have many strokes in common. ‘The “1” Is an exception to the rule on down strokes. Make loop very smnall. Aim to have your practice work shout the size of copy. A medium sizo ts desir ‘able for pructical work. Make your letters small and accurate. ‘Tho first object in writing is legibility. ‘You want your work so plain that It may be read at a glance. 1. Yor will see that O) O Qe ITT | PIEE FATE (OL fee AL yee t—y! Vide FISD fds FTG RG flor’ yrunhbe gite gin nen goneDIRECT OVAL CAPITALS. ‘Ibis not all movement, itis not all practioe, and It is not all study that makes a penman, but i is by prop- only combining all these three that we rench shill with the pen. "A. 8. Palmer, eto Western Bona wii Before heginning work on this plato It will be well to turn to the plate of movement exercises and tice the compact oval drill, No. 4, for ten then take up empital letter exerelses. ‘The arrows sho the direetion the pen is to take. ter you have mastered simple exercises. ‘They require more control of writing muscles than the oval drills, frou the fact that we trace so nearly the form of the letter. If you will master the exoreises in this plate you will have little dificulty. with the letters. You ean devise exerelsos with other capitals if you choose. ‘Take up one capital at a time, making a whole page of the same. Do not shade. ‘The down stroke, however, may be a firm stroke. CAPITALS—DIRECT AND INDIRECT OVALS. Plate 7. - G80 CIP OOO oe eo OOD ) WegoPAGE WRITING. We would suggest that much time be spent in page writing. It requires one kind of skill to write a word beautifully, but 1 requires another and greater degree of skill to make m page look neat and beautiful. Your writing will be judged by others mainly by ite appearance as a whole,—henee practice on paige work. De ee te eee (aS. es: vereluetigh ten forecepitdc a Lesebioniap Afecchzitsiufercerctr they uence vodeatenn ty bethercg add ard Mend ralurayh! RA OO frvinducthort-faulltcannetsherfeunde ©O) INSTRUCTIONS. ‘Tho exercises on Plato 9 will be difficult at first, but do not di sults the first time, from time to time, before taking up 1 the better; but do C) INDIREONO¥AL8-conrom. Pas WY©) COMMERCIAL VALUE OF GOOD WRITING. The bead of a large firm in the West recontly advertised for a bookkeeper who must he a good pen- man, Streas was put on the penmanship. It was necessary to be not only a fair penman, but good pen- ‘man. He was disappointed in the number of replies that came in response to his advertisement. A second advertisement was inserted, naming the salary, and this time ho received 150 replies. Many of the appli ‘cants gave evidence of ability In every way exeept in penmanship, and, strange to aay, not one of the 150 could pass muster in handwriting. ‘The story ia authentic, and we give it for what it ix worth. We hear ‘much complaint nowadays about how difenlt it is for young people to sceure paying positions, but this ix ‘only another example of how dimeult it Is for the man with the position to find ono to fill i.”—The Penman's Art Journat. O Pate 10 / spe Pine Leth carpi Joe as Abndnedd conprrsd-shinerferes/canmotinire . a ee ee ger Tp. ee ke a/decttion! tortuned donot atuayd leone Lhetenpimes| INSTRUCTIONS. Road again the instructions for Plate $. ‘The practice of these movement exereises will probably be the ‘most delightful part of your work and will, undoubtedly, result in great profit to you, for they are intended to help you work up your movement and form at the same time. If yon have movement and form, little 4s lacking to make you a good writer. STEM CAPITALS. Plate 11,Introduction to a business place, and often the eauso of promotion. While time is required to make one’ ‘necomplishments in other lines known, bis good ponmanship speaks for itself at sight. ‘The penmanship should be moat and plain, and as rapid as Is cousistont with these qualities. Avoid flourishes, and write with Ittle or no shade. No one can becomo a good penman without an effort on his own part, and good bandwritiog is endeavor to attain it. Ca spoil a good style alread Aisrespectful to the correspondent, but needlessly consumes time of the latter In deciphering it, Write no more letters than you eau write well. Wi ean; you cannot afford to waite othérwi VALUE OF GOOD WRITING. No accomplishment ean be of greater worth in business than good penmansb{p. It is an invaluable most sure to be acquired by those who are willing, persistent, eareful, and earnest in their al practice will constantly improve one’s handwriting, while carolessness may Acquired. A carelessly written letter Is not only prejudielal to the writer and ite plainly, neatly, slowly if you must, but write as well as you Me hetinsdéiafialbiirtihirhutinedda ee. Llhinecteftin-canitpsch mene thantuerdll Vaslecetihenlit Aaracterige bl-rusactiond Dig eA eo eee ~ Ss Oa “When I decided to become a penman there was another boy in the aame village about my own age who was also practicing writing. At that tlme he was a better writer than I. My friends told ime that he was a natural writer, but Iwas not, and in their oplatons,—which they gave free of charge—would never become a ponman. I practiced ever spare moment possible, while my talented young frlend rested a great deal on his natural ability, and spent his evenings in a grocory store, listening to stories. ‘The result was, in a short time, I was a better writer than he, T now pleasantly roeall those days and I think how hard 1 ‘ried to boat that boy writing."—B. L. Glick in Western Penman, Do not imagine that It requires natural ability to become a good business writer Plate 1%, Lethe Acvfabsshrtinarcmatetsiner feels actin loxdlefaustheprotthantaucdhbomguer Cie, youtniyteyetn thetpeyoud Lene af, odode A nercida/graiedportheLbewireg ean eh de Id dlireep Kin Pe OO) “Remember that carelessness and too much haste not only fail to improve your penmanship, but actu- ally ruin what progross {s already attained. When persons contemplate having a photograph taken they ofven bestow much earo upon thelr personal appearanee, in order to heighten the effect of the artist in the presentation of thelr physical keness. ‘These same persons, however, will often sit down and write hur- riedly an Important Iottor that from undue haste abounds In blots, Hlegible writing, erasures, and bad spell- ing, without oneo thinking they are transmitting to thelr eorrespondent a kind of mental photograph of themmsolves, and one, too, whfeh better indleates thelr Mtness for business of for soctety, than the others.” O, Plate 14. hucel-dufertmuntthewd goodbrecding oe ae bef ingravng ontuced- a eZ aeINSTRUCTIONS. ‘These eapitals are intended to be practical forms such as should be used In plain writing. ‘They should not be accompanied with unnecessary flourish, but should be made with a free movement. Wateh your ‘own work and compare It with the copy. ‘Try to determine where your weak points are, and then try to improve those points. The exereises you have already had, if practiced faithfully, should enable you to make a good set of capttals O ©) Plate 15.No part of a business edueation so quickly commands attention as good penmanship. It is a recommen= ation in itself, and a passport to the best positions in the business eommuntty.—A. D. Stele, ; a Lpoucicancetblavaticte turf ebvon idee S pp Agee dee ee crantndefeenderd- Lee Does herert-aimaceddely Gothernet deabgucthy fryeuull bel de SS ee ee dldeng whenlere Lured ee Ae ercumdlancedyoumay ned pede O CINSTRUCTIONS. Plate 17. LLG SE Log ZIRE OT o/s GHIO GS GOS2 AGOCYE GO 1 2I a6 O/ 2B4 OS ZB4 FCT GOL LISTS Sp his re 9 G hg Ties 2S 4 a Ol BG4ATO es % § fPlates 18-21 are samples of ornamental writing, ‘They are not given to servi but rather to show what may bo accomplished later by faithful prnet sinners to practice a. plain husiness hand such as has been exempli ‘uiring that, time may be spent profitably on ornamental styles. ‘The frec ornamental styles may, however, serve to impress upon one the necessity of a froo movement. If you want graceful writing be sure to cultivate that movement which bas heen deseribed and insisted ‘upon in the preceding instruetions. 18 copies for hoginnerss mach better for be- ng plates, After ac O vo Plate 18. Lil yen ile fly ade Ch) / CY, Pn ie Ly Lene s MMVMIUTLE Op: EN ap pnage “Ay“When @ young man goes in seareh of employment the first thing he Is asked to do is to give a sample of his handwriting. If he ean give satisfaction in this his stecoss Is. comparatively certain. Read the ad~ vertisements of business: men for clerks, bookkeepers, ete., and you will notice that they require the appli- cant t0 apply im bis own handwriting. We have before sald that a good handwriting goes far toward mak- ing up for other deficiencies, and we might add that when the other qualifications are possessed their value enhanced by the possession of this, ‘The elegant and rapid writer will always command a high New York Tritune. Plate 19. GD fe & A Famingfe wt), iO, MA) i a Augustine, y, ey daltS foramibed te! oe Preis lig “tn Mend L jelbara/ (Galeudtecen oll - ee - Tyee poten, VITO, O ®x — GZ, oO Ga til G LAI OFAC J (¢ U FAG < O,BUSINESS WRITING. Of all the manifold wsex of the pen, that in which It Is made subservient to the wants of everyday life should unquestionably hold the highest rank. While beautiful and elegant penmanship gives evidence of tasto and skill, business wrlting may be said to sway the world. Kasy and graceful in its proportions, it ‘4 attractive as If Ix useful. Plain to the eye, conveying thought with electric speed to the reader's mind, its perusal gives genuine satisfaction to all to whom it is addressed. Men In the world of commerce who transact business daily with those who are known to them only through the medium of letters, invol tarily form opinions based upon the character of the writing of their correspondents. Tf it Is flem, free, and legible,-it inspires a well grounded confideneo in the gencral ability of the writer and glves an assurance that he will do well whatever his bands flud to do. Plat, Spencer. > 7 ~ Plato 21.Plain, practical writing is the only thing for business, but this does not impair the beauty that {s to be found in ormamental pon work. ‘There is probably not a skilled ornamental penman in the land to-day who is not also a most practical writer—indeed, i¢ is impossible to reach the high skill that is required for four- fishing and faney writing without completely covering the fleld of practical writing. Some give up at the foot of the mountain upon which man never stood and say there Is no use in climbing it, ‘There is no reason why the young penman who may be only an amateur to-day cannot some time be one of the very best ‘writers to be found anywhere.—H. B. Louman in Penmnan’s Art Journal. © Plate 2. fea fe A LOLA ‘secsdben rn Perlpenltin OMA OWE.J MARKING ALPHABET. QQCYER TALES HLA QILA RS TUOUXYE Concommadtr, Ohio. AeA QLyaoparstuoueys Qaoorge Wain WetragtonFor this alphabet hold the paper with the ruled Hines parallel with the arm. ‘The shades should be ex. actly on the tops and bottoms of the letters. It will be noticed that the small letters may be made with the shade on the bottom only or on both top and bottom. ‘The student can use hls own taste In the orna- mentation of letters, This Is a boautiful style of lettering. ORNAMENTAL LETTERING. Plato 24. See = Se YH RLEUR ESTO YE OQ )O Pinte %5 shows the preceding alphabet in body work. ‘The sentiment of the quotation will undoubtedly . appeal strongly to many young people. Plate 25. 8 Tus gutond WHR Washes Qossteerves DRO Ad SLATER Caan o& GL WTA RO Gacmhon & & IMOY, GHB. Weta vo eveess J Sothaes can! sdaDy Toy on Wath a Qs wie has SOREL WS Subsea g| dak OOINSTRUCTIONS. ABCDETGHI IN ALOPORSTUY NY ~ — Abcdefghijelunopqrstuvwryz ZeAN INVITATION. We desire this Compendinm of Penmanship to be the most help possible to the young people who criticism. We we Invite all to send us epocimens of work for fn may practice its eople In our power, and will, whenever possible, send copies to you in best wishes for your improvement, THE OBERLIN RUSINESS COLLEGE COMPANY Onrrnax, O110,