Always write at a slope. This enables you to sit up comfortably at your work, and to see the MS. clearly as though it were on an easel—and, by the resulting horizontal position of the pen, the ink is kept under control. It may be seen from ancient pictures that this was the method of the scribes (see Frontispiece). Never write on a flat table; it causes the writer to stoop, the MS. is seen foreshortened, and the ink flows out of the pen too rapidly. [p062]
The slope of the desk may be about, or rather less than, 45° to begin with: as the hand becomes accustomed to it, it may be raised to about 60° (fig. 38).
The “heel” of the right hand may be tired at first, but it soon grows used to the position. A rest for the left arm, if necessary, can be attached to the left side of the board.
Lighting. The desk is placed very near to a window, so that a strong light falls on it from the left. Direct sunlight may be cut off by fixing a sheet of thin white paper in the window. Careful work should be done by daylight. Work done by artificial light always appears faulty and unsatisfactory when viewed by day.
THE WRITING LEVEL
Each penman will find for himself the writing level along which his pen will move most naturally and conveniently (see figs. 39 and 16). The paper guard should be pinned on about 1 inch below the [p063] writing level: the tape is fixed across about 3 inches above the guard. In the case of very large writing the space between the tape and the guard is greater, and in the case of a very small MS. it is less.
The writing level is kept constant. When one line has been written, the writing paper—which is placed behind the tape and the guard—is pulled up for another line.
USE OF THE PEN
For the practical study of pen-forms use a cane or a reed pen—or a quill cut very broad—giving a broad, firm, thick stroke. It is the chisel edge (p. 57) of the nib which gives the “clean cut” thick and thin strokes and the graduated curved strokes characteristic of good writing (fig. 40).
Therefore, let the nib glide about on the surface with the least possible pressure, making natural pen-strokes the thickness of which is only varied [p064] by the different directions in which the nib moves (see Addenda, p. 23).
It is very important that the nib be cut “sharp,” and as often as its edge wears blunt it must be resharpened. It is impossible to make “clean cut” strokes with a blunt pen (see Addenda, p. 25).
When the nib is cut back, the “shoulder” should be cut back to preserve the elasticity of the pen (p. 60).
HOLDING THE PEN
The hand holds the pen lightly and easily. A good method is to loop the thumb and forefinger over, and slightly gripping, the shaft of the pen, and support the shaft from below with the second finger. The third and fourth fingers are tucked, out of the way, into the palm (figs. 41, 45).
The pen should be so lightly held that the act of writing should draw the edge of the nib into perfect contact with the paper, both the half-nibs touching the surface. (To make sure that the contact is perfect, make experimental thick strokes on a scrap of paper—pinned at the right-hand side of the desk—and see that they are “true,” i.e. that they are of even width, with “clean cut” edges and ends.) The writer should be able to feel what the nib is doing. If the pen be gripped stiffly the edge of the nib cannot be felt on the paper; and it will inevitably be forced out of shape and prematurely blunted.
A thin slip of bone—a “folder” or the handle of the pen-knife will do—is commonly held in the left hand to keep the paper flat and steady (see fig. 41). [p065]
THE CUSTOMARY MANNER.—The ancient scribe probably held his pen in the manner most convenient to himself; and we, in order to write with freedom, should hold the pen in the way to which, by long use, we have been accustomed; provided that, for writing an upright round-hand, the pen be so manipulated and cut as to make fine horizontal thin strokes and clean vertical thick strokes (see fig. 40, & footnote, p. 304).
SLANTED SHAFT, &c.—Most people are accustomed to holding a pen slanted away from the right shoulder. The nib therefore is cut at [p066] an oblique angle13 to the shaft, so that, while the shaft is slanted, the edge of the nib is parallel with the horizontal line of the paper, and will therefore produce a horizontal thin stroke and a vertical thick stroke. For example: if the shaft is held slanted at an angle of 70° with the horizontal, the nib is cut at an angle of 70° with the shaft (fig. 42). The angle of the nib with the shaft may vary from 90° (at right angles) to about 70°, according to the slant at which the shaft is held (fig. 43).
If the writer prefers an extremely slanted shaft, to cut the nib correspondingly obliquely would weaken it, so it is better to counteract the slant by slightly tilting the paper (fig. 44).
To produce the horizontal thin stroke, therefore:
- The slant at which the shaft is held,
- The angle at which the nib is cut, and
- The tilt which may be given to the paper:
must be so adjusted, one to another, that the chisel edge of the nib is parallel to the horizontal line of the paper. Before writing, make trial strokes on a scrap of paper to see that this is so: the vertical thick strokes should be square ended and the full width of the nib, the horizontal strokes as fine as possible.
HORIZONTAL SHAFT, &c.—The pen shaft is held approximately horizontal. This will be found the natural position for it when the slope [p068] of the desk is about 50° or 60°. It gives complete control of the ink in the pen, which can be made to run faster or slower by slightly elevating or depressing the shaft (fig. 45).
The writing-board may be slightly lowered or raised with the object of elevating or depressing the pen shaft (fig. 46 & p. 118).
The pen makes a considerable angle with the writing surface, so that the ink, which is held in the hollow of the nib, comes in contact with the paper at the very extremity of the nib, making very fine strokes (a, fig. 47).
It is convenient to stand the ink, &c., beside the desk on the left, and for this purpose a little cup-shaped bracket or clip may be attached to the edge of the writing-board. The filling-brush stands in the ink-bottle (p. 51) or pot of colour (p. 176), and is taken up in the left hand; the pen, retained in the right hand, being brought over to the left to be filled.
The back of the nib is kept dry (a, fig. 48). A very convenient and perfectly clean method, when care is taken, of removing any ink on the back of the pen is to draw it across the back of the left fore-finger.
In careful work the pen should be tried, on a [p070] scrap of paper, almost every time it is filled (to see that it is not too full and that the ink is flowing rightly).
The nib is kept clean. A carbon ink (p. 51), through gradual evaporation, is apt to clog the nib (especially in hot weather); therefore every now and then, while the nib is in use, the spring is taken out and the whole thoroughly cleaned. It is impossible to write well with a dirty pen.
CHAPTER IV ACQUIRING A FORMAL HAND: (3) MODELS Models — Notes on Construction: Script I. — Coupling the Letters — Spacing: Letters, Words, & Lines — Uncial Capitals: Script II. — Numerals & Punctuation Marks — Of Copying MSS. Generally.
MODELS
The best training is found in the practice of an upright round-hand (p. 302). Having mastered such a writing, the penman can acquire any other hands—sloping or angular—with comparative ease (p. 323).
The English Half-Uncial writing in Plate VII. is an excellent model. Those who have sufficient time to spare for the careful study of this, or any other legible and beautiful round-hand, should obtain access to the MSS. in a museum, or procure good facsimiles (see Plates at end of Book, & p. 388).
Those who have not sufficient time for a careful and thorough study of an early MS. will find it [p071] easier to begin with a simplified and modernised writing, such as Script I. (fig. 49).
Before copying a hand it is well to examine carefully the manuscript from which it is taken: observe its general appearance: note the character and mode of the ruling, and the sizes and relative proportions of page, text, margins, and ornaments. With regard to the actual forms of the letters and the mode of their arrangement, such a method of analysis as the following will be found useful, as an aid to accuracy in copying, and definiteness in self-criticism. [p072]