Burroughs Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 | Page 4

to get his light from the right side, or over the right
shoulder.
SHADING.
As a beautifier of the handwriting, by causing a diversity of light and
shade among the letters, shading has its value; but in the practical
handwriting for business purposes, it should, as a rule, be classed with
flourishing, and left out. Requiring time and effort, to bring down the
shades on letters, business men, clerks and telegraph operators find a
uniform and regular style of writing, without shade, the best, even
though it may not be as artistic.
UNIFORMITY.
A most necessary element in all good penmanship is uniformity. In the
slope of the letters and words which form a written page there must be
no disagreement. With the letters leaning about in various directions,
writing is presented in its most ridiculous phase. Uniformity in the size
of letters, throughout the written page; how greatly it conduces to
neatness and beauty. All letters resting on the line, and being of
uniform hight, adds another condition towards good penmanship. This
essential element of uniformity may be watched and guarded closely
and cultivated by any learner in his own practice.

SLANT OF WRITING.
As said before, it matters not so much what angle of slant is adopted in
writing, provided it is made uniform, and all letters are required to
conform exactly to the same slant. Writing which is nearest
perpendicular is most legible, and hence is preferable for business
purposes. The printed page of perpendicular type; how legible it is. But
for ease in execution, writing should slant. It follows then that writing
should be made as perpendicular as is consistent with ease of execution.
The slant of writing should not be less than sixty degrees from the
horizontal.

[Illustration: Position of Body While Standing]
POSITION of the BODY WHILE STANDING.
The practical book-keeper finds it advantageous to do his writing while
standing; in fact, where large books are in use, and entries are to be
transferred from one to another, the work of the book-keeper can hardly
be performed otherwise than in a standing position, free to move about
his office. Cumbrous books necessitate a different position at the desk,
from that of the correspondent, or the learner. Since large books must
lie squarely on the desk, the writer, in order to have the proper position
thereto, must place his left side to the desk. The body thus has the same
relative position, as if squarely fronting the desk with the paper or book
placed diagonally. In other words, the writer, while engaged in writing
in large, heavy books, must adjust himself to the position of the books.
Should the correspondent or bill clerk perform his work while standing,
he would assume the same as the sitting position--squarely fronting the
desk.
LEGIBILITY.
Children, in learning to write, are apt to sacrifice all other good
qualities of beauty, regularity and grace, for the quality of legibility, or
plainness. With some older persons this legibility is considered of very

little consequence, and is obscured by all manner of meaningless
flourishes, in which the writer takes pride. In the estimation of the
business man, writing is injured by shades and flourishes. The demand
of this practical time is a plain, regular style that can be written rapidly,
and read at a glance.
[Illustration]
FINISH.
By a careless habit, which many persons allow themselves to fall into,
they omit to attend to the little things in writing. Good penmanship
consists in attention to small details, each letter and word correctly
formed, makes the beautiful page. By inattention to the finish of one
letter, or part of a letter of a word, oftentimes the word is mistaken for
another, and the entire meaning changed. Particular attention should be
devoted to the finish of some of the small letters, such as the dotting of
the i, or crossing of the t. Blending the lines which form a loop, often
causes the letter to become a stem, similar to the t or d, or an e to
become an i. In many of the capital letters, the want of attention to the
finish of the letter converts it into another or destroys its identity, such,
for instance, as the small cross on the capital F, which, if left off, makes
the letter a T. The W often becomes an M, or vice versa, and the I a J.
Mistakes in this regard are more the result of carelessness and
inattention than anything else. By careful practice a person will acquire
a settled habit of giving a perfection to each letter and word, and then it
is no longer a task, but is performed naturally and almost involuntarily,
while the difference in the appearance of the written page, as well as
the exactness and certainty