Reddit Reddit reviews Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks)

We found 37 Reddit comments about Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Reference
Books
Words, Language & Grammar
Handwriting Reference
Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks)
Includes 5 workbooks and 1 theory book (52 pp.)Great for students and adultsPaperbackReprinted in the USA
Check price on Amazon

37 Reddit comments about Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks):

u/MaryDaJane · 16 pointsr/fountainpens

thank you all for your kind words, im truly flattered. Very motivated to keep on practicing <:


Btw I dont really have a fixed script for both capitals or lower case letters yet, im just copying whatever i find decent looking.


A while ago i found this image just browsing thru google:
https://i.gyazo.com/6e9fe4a6b9211273d79c900e1b8868c4.png
(source unknown to me) and thought they look pretty nice.

Also I just finished the Spencerian penmanship copybooks:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088062096X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They are great, some of the capitals letters are from there.
http://i.imgur.com/BLhSBni.jpg?1

Hope this is helpful<:

u/Osgoodbad · 11 pointsr/fountainpens

Spencerian, though they've made some variations to make it their own.

[My wife got me some books for Christmas last year] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/088062096X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526597551&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=spencerian+penmanship+theory+book+plus+five+copybooks&dpPl=1&dpID=51Q0SSR5udL&ref=plSrch), and I like them a lot. The sentences from the workbooks feel like 19th century propaganda, and are a lot of fun to write.

u/terribleatkaraoke · 9 pointsr/Calligraphy

Why not a lovely Spencerian letter? It doesn't have to be the ornate kind written with a dip pen, that'll take too long to learn. But you can simply buy a cheap fountain pen, fill it with a nice colored ink, and practice writing in a nice monoline script (ignore all the shadings). You can also consider business handwriting and spruce it up with a bit of fancy capitals. Lessons are free at the iampeth website although if you are serious you can buy these copybooks, fill up all the pages and voila.. instant pants dropping love letter.

u/ONE_MAN_MILITIA · 9 pointsr/PenmanshipPorn

I loved this set to learn with, thought you'd appreciate
Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_k4dLAbNN3JY0M

u/Ryslin · 7 pointsr/Calligraphy

I'm not sure if you're asking how to do the more advanced stuff that /u/kapule910 did, or if you're looking to get started. If it's the latter, be sure to check out the Spencerian Penmanship Theorybook - https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527000026&sr=8-1&keywords=spencerian+penmanship+theory+book+plus+five+copybooks

It was written by Spencer's children/pupils and provides an excellent introduction to the style, along with practice books / exercises. A bit old school, but I think that adds to the charm. =o)

u/Sat3rn · 5 pointsr/Handwriting

As strange as it may sound, the best thing that happened to me was acquiring a fountain pen.

Initially, I purchased the Spencerian Penmanship Copybooks and I found that basic repetition of simple strokes really helped to make myself aware of my hand and finger movements. The books helped me to, more than anything else, sit down in once place for an hour or so and simply focus on the techniques of writing. It got me familiar with practicing writing.

This is where the fountain pen comes in. I practiced my writing with a fountain pen, and the way the nub works and the weight of the pen made me very conscious of my every movement. Looking at my fountain pen writing, I was convinced that my handwriting hadn't improved. Yet when I set down my fountain pen and took up a normal ballpoint, the difference was easily noticeable; writing with a ballpoint pen was suddenly so easy. That was when I realized how my writing had improved.

Hope this helps, and best of luck in school!

tldr; Repetition and practice, coupled with a fountain pen.

u/raine0227 · 5 pointsr/fountainpens

I found them on Amazon for $20

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_C3yOzb2XG2CRJ

u/James_Of_Scots · 4 pointsr/Handwriting

I think your handwriting looks fine, but if you are wanting cursive, I could recommend the Spencerian penmanship (theory book plus five copybooks) I own these books, and I love them. It's a system based on ovals, and meant for speed, due to the 52° slant. I have linked below, both the UK link to buy them, and a US link.

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Book-Copybooks-Spencerian-Penmanship/dp/088062096X

US: https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X

u/bebop0812 · 4 pointsr/penmanship

I stumbled upon them on Amazon. I swear they weren't there a couple of weeks ago. Ended up being a total impulse purchase for me. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374076983&sr=8-1&keywords=spencerian

u/DarkPoppies · 4 pointsr/Handwriting

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ln96yb338H3W5

u/Joksta · 3 pointsr/Calligraphy

You are so awesome! I wish I could partake in this activity but I am just starting now! ( Spencerian theory book is on it's way!) I cant wait to get started and one day be able to join all of you here at /r/calligraphy! :D

u/22cthulu · 3 pointsr/Omaha

The book mentioned in that article is currently out of print. However Amazon does have it, though it's a bit out of my price range at $2,691.46

Though I'm planning on picking up a copy of the Spencerian Penmanship books later this month once I get caught up on bills.

u/derekrwills · 3 pointsr/Handwriting

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_bGgxCbYTZS889

u/break42 · 3 pointsr/Calligraphy

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_zHecub01E9Y97

u/JohnSmallBerries · 3 pointsr/Calligraphy

I found the Spencerian copybooks helped me a great deal.

At first, though, they were a hindrance - I tried to start with the first page, fill it up completely, move on to the next, fill it completely, and so on - after a few days, I quit calligraphy altogether for several months because it was just too painfully tedious.

When I went back to it, I would do one line per page and move on to the next page, until I felt like I had to stop for the night. I'd then repeat the same pages each night, abandoning a page when I felt like I was reproducing it well enough.

u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/funny

It really depends on how pretty and how proper you want your cursive to be. If it is for notes, just write what is easy for you. It doesn't have to be correct writing if you can read it.

If you want nice flowing handwriting that will impress people and you can turn in on assignments, look into this. I am guessing that you have avoided cursive like the plague and don't have any muscle memory built for it. It doesn't take long to learn. When you learn to write properly, there are really only 5 or 6 hand movements that you have to make. Like you mention the letter A. The lowercase A shares the same first stroke as c, d, g, o and q. Once you get muscle memory for that one stroke, you have 1/5th of the alphabet down. And then the lower case b shares a stroke for d, f, h, k and l.

Once you get a few hand movements down, all the letters flow pretty easily.

u/Aulm · 3 pointsr/fountainpens

May want to check out /r/handwriting for tips.

However, I recently got the Spencerian books after they were recommended on here a few times.

There are also a few good online resources were you can download practice sheets and whatnot. It may come down to what style you are wanting to learn.

u/Bob-omb_hoedown · 2 pointsr/fountainpens
u/PublicyPolicy · 2 pointsr/fountainpens

I picked up spencerian. Its nice but very slow. Properly practiced, most cursive are faster to write than print. Part of the reason they exist. Though spencerian, super slow. Will improve with muscle memory though.

If you need something faster, business script could be what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/088062096X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487481437&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=spencerian+handwriting

I have been working through that with a flex pen. Very rewarding but its kinda weird to re learn to write at 32, but like you my hand writing was always crap.

From that book i learned i missed many fundamentals they simply did not teach. Oh well.

u/JessTheMullet · 2 pointsr/Handwriting

I bought the mott media reprint of the original Spencerian workbooks off of Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088062096X It's rather old-fashioned, but it'll get you the basics and you can adapt it to regular use without much effort. Spencerian was originally supposed to be efficient, and with practice, you're supposed to be able to write it at a pretty good speed while still having it be easy to read.

u/77mx77 · 2 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

If you really want to learn these books are very good, they come with paper to write on and examples that you can write over to get a feel for the motions. Also, you should also have a look ar /r/Handwriting, there's a lot of information there as well.

Also, I would definitely recommend getting a fountain pen (/r/fountainpens ), it really makes the experience a lot nicer, and imo makes learning cursive easier.

u/Thinkinaboutu · 2 pointsr/fountainpens

For Copperplate

For Spencerian


For Cursive basics(The content is good, but the paper isn't great for FPs, so you will probably need to use a Fine nib)

u/jina100 · 2 pointsr/fountainpens

I’ve been slowly making my way through these books. I’ll practice a letter a bit and then integrate it into my daily writing to the best of my ability :)

u/konijntjesbroek · 2 pointsr/LifeProTips

Are you looking for block printing (Tech diagrams/schematics/spec sketches). Or more fancy writing? The things that are encouraged for readability on documents for emergency communications (I do red cross disaster and am a crisis manager for a telco). Block print in small caps. So what I did to help is to get some graph paper and practice ~20m 3x/week. As you practice this you will notice that certain letters look really good to you. Highlight these and the next time out try to make your letter look like the one that you highlighted. If you are looking for cursive improvement there are handbooks/workbooks. I have used spencerian penmanship books.

u/bit101 · 2 pointsr/fountainpens

I got this and worked all the way through it. It was very good.

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1462298862&sr=8-2&keywords=spencerian

I'm now working on Michael Sull's American Cursive Handwriting in the link previously posted here. I'm REALLY getting a lot out of that, but note that "American Cursive Handwriting" book is NOT Spencerian. That's the one he's currently mostly pushing on his site. But he does have a lot of other Spencerian books and resources on the site.

u/bemed · 2 pointsr/fountainpens

I recommend having a look on this one.

Theory Book & Five Copybooks (Spencerian Penmanship)


u/AHemlockslie · 1 pointr/Calligraphy

I'm learning Spencerian, and I got a set of practice books that have helped a lot. I'm only like 2/3 of the way through the first of 5, but I'm starting to break away from it and just learn what I need as I need it. The beginning, though, was extremely beneficial. The pages are full of practice lines with everything divided up an spaced for perfect letters. In the first book, for example, the boxes are generally the exact size where the upstroke to start writing a lowercase i takes you from bottom left corner up to the opposite corner in the top right. It's very helpful for getting down the length and the slant, especially since they're core components of the script that apply to pretty much all the letters. It also talks about how certain types of lines in the script are supposed to be made, which again helps with consistency in your writing.

This looks like the one I have, but you might be able to find practice sheets of the appropriate grid size free online, as well as theory. The theory book and 5 practice books are also available separately if you only want one or the other.

u/polypeptide147 · 1 pointr/fountainpens

Oops! thought I copied it. Here you go

u/ANauticalVehicle · 1 pointr/Handwriting

Yeah, here are some links to IAMPETH: 1 2

2 is a collection of Spencerian examples by master penmen and the first are a few practice sheets. There are also a few books you can get through Amazon (or possibly locally depending your location). 1 2


I would recommend the latter, but it is often expensive/unobtainable. The guides online can help a lot too, though I recommend you print off the sheets and trace the letterforms for a while to get them down.

u/MShades · 1 pointr/Calligraphy

Thanks! For the Spencerian, I'm using the set published by Mott Media - a theory book with a set of workbooks. It's good, although I think it would be better used as a supplement to lessons with an actual person.

As for Uncial, I cobbled that together from a lot of resources. Part of it was just stumbling my way through scripts until someone here said, "It looks like you might be trying to do Uncial." I used a few of the resources in the Wiki as well, and they were very helpful.

u/spicypenis · 1 pointr/fountainpens

Do it the old school way with this book. As long as you stick to the instruction and be patient, you'll improve in no time.

u/CliffJameston · 1 pointr/fountainpens

Not OP, but (from what I've seen) the definitive resource for Spencerian handwriting is the original books by Spencer himself. They're what I'm using, and by the sounds of it, what OP used too.

u/ww2golfer · 1 pointr/fountainpens

Thanks, I appreciate it. I think it is true that no one ever really likes their own writing because I think mine is horrific. I was in that last generation that they still taught cursive in school, so it is a mix of the garbage school guidance and Spencerian theory. I wish I could go back in time and learn the write way when I was 8 vs working on it now.

Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_csmSBbBJ4XAE7

u/napsforlife · 1 pointr/fountainpens
u/ElderTheElder · 1 pointr/PenmanshipPorn

Yeah, lots! Some of my old technique books were found in the library of a now-defunct printing school in NYC and thus will be very difficult to find again, but a few good ones that you shouldn't have trouble finding are:

The Universal Penman is a collection of some of George Bickham's most beautiful calligraphic pieces. It's a lovely book for inspiration and general style (not so much technique but rather seeing how the letters are shaped and spaced, etc.).

Spencerian Penmanship is a good technique for learning the basics of Spencerian letterforms. I purchased the version without the five extra copy-books on Amazon but I'm not seeing it there right now (just the version with the copy books, which could be useful).

– JA Cavanaugh's Lettering & Alphabets is a good place to learn the basics of a few different lettering styles, particularly loose script lettering for advertising layouts and some Roman + Caslon styles.

– Leslie Cabarga's Logo, Font, & Lettering Bible has some extremely helpful tips for digitizing your lettering work as well as other general design tips. It is, ironically enough, a horrendously designed and dated book but the methods are still instrumental.

– Finally, Colt Bowden's How To Paint Signs and Influence People zine is a really lovely modern take on lettering techniques. Though it is geared for signwriters, the techniques taught for building up letterforms has followed me through to my pen-and-ink work as well. Plus, it's a really fun little series and your money is going to a very talented and passionate dude.

Hope this was helpful!

u/CraxyMitch · 0 pointsr/Firearms

It's a nice looking font. If you'd like to improve it, as others are saying, get a good stable fountain pen, and this, you won't regret it.

​