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]
.jpg)
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.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link) - ^ "The Art of Writing...Book I..." Metropolitan Museum of Art.
External links edit
 | This article about an American writer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |