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A review by shanaqui
Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting by Kitty Burns Florey
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Script & Scribble is a short history of handwriting, far from comprehensive, and larded heavily with the author's own opinions and experiences (which I know would drive some readers wild, since some prefer a more objective, less personal account). It comes with a lot of different illustrations of different types of handwriting, along with some explanations about how exactly they're formed.
The author is an unabashed fan of handwriting, though not a Luddite (accepting the need for typing skills, enjoying the use of her own computer, etc). I can't help but feel if she's not a Postcrossing member, she ought to be -- most postcards I receive via Postcrossing are handwritten, and all of the ones I send are.
(Full disclosure: I work for Postcrossing! But I'm also a fan of it and frequently send and receive postcards on my own dime.)
Her elegy for written items seems a little premature to me, though perhaps that's a peculiarity of my family; we send written letters a fair amount, and corresponded often via letters while I was at university around the time this book came out. That said, our handwriting isn't brilliant, and I'm sure the handwriting experts she consults would have plenty to say about my rounded, mostly-cursive hand.
It's an interesting read and quite quick, but doesn't feel very in-depth. By the time it's reaching the modern period, it's focused solely on the North American picture, even specifically the US. I'd have loved something a little more general.
The author is an unabashed fan of handwriting, though not a Luddite (accepting the need for typing skills, enjoying the use of her own computer, etc). I can't help but feel if she's not a Postcrossing member, she ought to be -- most postcards I receive via Postcrossing are handwritten, and all of the ones I send are.
(Full disclosure: I work for Postcrossing! But I'm also a fan of it and frequently send and receive postcards on my own dime.)
Her elegy for written items seems a little premature to me, though perhaps that's a peculiarity of my family; we send written letters a fair amount, and corresponded often via letters while I was at university around the time this book came out. That said, our handwriting isn't brilliant, and I'm sure the handwriting experts she consults would have plenty to say about my rounded, mostly-cursive hand.
It's an interesting read and quite quick, but doesn't feel very in-depth. By the time it's reaching the modern period, it's focused solely on the North American picture, even specifically the US. I'd have loved something a little more general.