John Jenkins (penmanship)
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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]
See also
- Platt Rogers Spencer, who created a later writing system
References
- 1 2 Jill Gage (January 22, 2018). "Righting the Penmanship of America". Newberry Library.
- 1 2 3 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 12 July 2025). JSTOR 23251389.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link) - ↑ "The Art of Writing...Book I..." Metropolitan Museum of Art.