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Spencerian Copybook Set Plus Theory - Penmanship For Kids and Adults (Ages 8 and up). Handwriting Books For Prized and Elegant Writing. Penmanship Guide and Workbooks For 3rd Grade and beyond. All books available separately also.?
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45 reviews of this product found across Reddit:
I picked up these books several months ago and have been very slowly making my way through them. I try to learn the shape of one letter and put it into practice and just write a lot. I don’t worry too much about sticking to a schedule... just once I start feeling comfortable, I learn a new letter.
Hi Mac. Thank you for the kind words :)
To be honest, all I did to improve my handwriting was work from this set of books I purchased from Amazon, and then practice as diligently as time would allow. I have been working on my handwriting off and on for a little over a year now. Good luck!
Sure! I bought a set on amazon for spencerian script! Spencerian script
I am afraid not, I would say that Calligraphy would better suit the flex pen. To learn the shapes and strokes of Spencerian I bought these practice books and taught myself during lockdown, it takes a bit of time to understand all of it but the result is amazing as you progress, I highly recommend
I used this Spencerian learning 5 book set , cheap too!
Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GZT50TXRTADANS9R23CZ
I’m just gonna throw this out but, overall your penmanship is really nice.
Slant and height will make it look clean 😉
If you’re interested in Spencerian, I highly recommend this. It’s a theory book plus five copybooks, and it’s how I learned.
I never learned standard cursive, so I’m afraid I can’t help you there.
Best of luck on this journey, and remember, speed is your prize for accuracy!
I mostly practice Copperplate and Spencerian scripts. I wasn't necessarily following any of the rules for either of those scripts here. I was just kinda writing however I felt, but if you want to write like this I would recommend looking into Copperplate, Spencerian, or the Palmer Business Method. If your patient and dedicated to practicing, I have these and recommend them for Spencerian.
Penmanship enthusiast here; interested in pens and inks for decades, focusing on penmanship for about one year.
I do understand tools and approaches depend heavily on one's goals, however there's my perspective: I was looking to improve my handwriting, so I got "Spencerian penmanship" (five copybooks + theory book), which is now around $10 on Amazon. I practiced with them using Lamy Safari fountain pen (about $25; I think I could actually use any ballpoint pen with equal results).
After that I got interested in pointed pen calligraphy; I tried a number of different nibs, pens and inks, and my conclusion is this: a bottle of sumi ink (usually below $10), a Nikko G nib ($5 fo 3 nibs set), nib holder (below $10), and printer paper (heavier types) would be more than sufficient to practice calligraphy.
Sorry for being so long to respond -- I missed seeing your message.
I worked through this set
Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks)
from Amazon. If all you want are worksheets with baselines and slant lines, googling "spencerian worksheets pdf" will give you a lot of choices.
I hope this is a good enough answer.
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.
The book by platt Roger Spencer is the one I'm using. It's a fantastic book and not too expensive. It starts with just basic strokes and builds up everything from there.
I think there are a few places you can get it but this was where I got mine Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_sXa.vb567KGFA
Spencerian Penmanship https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
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
I ordered the Spencerian Penmanship set when I got back into fountain pens and holy cow has it improved my overall handwriting.
I guess it’s the official book? I found it on amazon. It’s this one https://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Spencerian&qid=1593473621&sr=8-1
If you're feeling like it's too basic, look for answers in the Spencerian script pedagogy. https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/
The first place to start is with a proper form. It looks like you're using broken cursive - some letters are cursive and connected and others not. Finding a proper form that you like and want to learn would be the first step.
There's spencerian:
Michael Sull has a good book:
Those are two of the better books in my opinion but there are many others. The point is to first find a form you like and practice it daily until you are proficient with it. Consistency is the key. Focus and starting and ending the strokes at the same place every time.
TL;DR - Time and practice. Lots of practice.
Plenty of resources here I think you’d find useful, especially the guidelines. If you’re going for a specific script, I’d get the/a book on it and work through it (I’m guessing you’re going for Spencerian so a great place to start with that is Platt Rogers Spencer’s copybook set.
When I wrote this, I was using the Spencerian Penmanship copybooks from the 1800s. I've now started practicing flourishing with Michael Sull's Spencerian Penmanship (this is the kit I am using). The first set is very practical and will improve handwriting. Sull's book is definitely more artistic calligraphy, and they recommend using an oblique pen.
I would like to recommend this product:
These guys claim to be the current mainstream cursive in the US. I think most people would agree that if and what cursive you learned depends on when you went to school and when your teacher was trained. https://www.newamericancursive.com/our-alphabet/
I taught myself with this book, which uses a little more workmanlike style in my opinion. https://handwritingsuccess.com/write-now/
Later I taught myself Spencerian because I'm a gearhead and think the pen is cool. Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_0CB4DMPYXKA9NQ8S68RZ
If I was planning to do cursive from the outset, I'd probably read some reviews of the New American books. (I haven't used them, no idea if they're good.)
The books I have used basically follow a format of showing you a letter, having you do it a few (Getty/Dubay) to many times (Spencer) having you copy words, and finally having you copy sentences. They all covered how to hold the pen, setting up your desk, stroke order, ligatures, etc too, although the Spencer set often felt like it was missing some information.
To me, it looks like someone's own organic handwriting, not a specific script. But if you want to practice a script that looks similar, there's Spencerian.
If you google "spencerian script practice sheets" you'll find a ton of free practice sheets you can print out. Or if you want a more formal experience, you can buy a reprint of the original 19th-century Spencerian manual plus 5 practice notebooks on Amazon.
Spencerian workbooks with theory
I just bought with a lamy safari because my handwriting is attrocious and want to get better
Not OP but I use this book set and it has helped me a ton.
If you want to improve your handwriting and introduce yourself to calligraphy at the same time, I would recommend practising Spencerian. It takes patience and practise but there are workbooks which can follow along with. Took me around 3 months, 30 minutes daily to go through them and I saw significant improvements. I would recommend the workbooks by Mott Media which can find on Amazon here.
Otherwise you can find non-copyrighted workbooks online through archive.org for example and follow along with the guidelines provided here by Page Flutter.
[I ordered them from amazon](Spencerian Penmanship (Theory... https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)
I started to learn Spencerian penmanship about a year ago; let me share my experience.
1) you'll need a theory book - something that would tell you how to write Spencerian;
2) you'll need copybooks (or guide sheets) to practice;
3) you'll need a writing tool to write with.
You can cover (1) and (2) in one go by purchasing "Spencerian Penmanship (Theory Book plus five copybooks)" https://www.amazon.com/dp/088062096X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_RNybEbHhnBVVMN9 (on Amazon ~$20). This covers both theory and practice books.
Other free option would be to explore iampeth.com - they have free theory books, as well as guide sheets for Spencerian.
Guide sheets: https://www.iampeth.com/pdf/52-degree-guide-sheets
Theory book: https://www.iampeth.com/pdf/new-spencerian-compendium
As for writing tools (3) - I practiced with fountain pen, but I'm sure there would be no difference if I'd use any other type of pen or pencil, as fountain pens do not provide for any shading. So I do believe pencil should work just fine.
I started off learning Spencerian script with this book before focusing more on Copperplate just through referencing exemplars from sources such as The Universal Penman. I'm sure there are a million online sources now, great videos to check out and even more image sources, but that's where I started!
When I sat down to learn Spencerian, I used this book. A general reference / exemplar book for copperplate and ornate style scripts that I think everybody should own is The Universal Penman.
For a beginner materials setup, something like this Speedball set should be OK, and then a practice pad of some sort to get going. The Spencerian book I note above usually is sold with practice books, too.
That said, I'm sure there are a million online resources—Youtube, different books, free downloads, etc. This is just what I used when I was teaching myself.
The Spencerian System of Practical Penmanship. It’s from the late 1800’s but it’s available as a reprint. Got mine off Amazon.
I recommend the Spencerian penmanship system of writing, I have linked both UK and US amazon links, these books are really good, and look nice to.
UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Book-Copybooks-Spencerian-Penmanship/dp/088062096X
If you have any question just ask :D
Thanks. I’ve been slowly working my way through these books. They’ve helped a lot.
Right here. These books have helped me so much!
Oops! thought I copied it. Here you go
This is the one I've got. I just copy the workbook onto some heavier paper, so I don't have to worry about it bleeding through the pages. Also handy if there are some things I want to go over again to refine a little bit.
Here's an album of my progress trying to fix my handwriting. It's a year+ old, I really should update it, but that gives you an idea.
> Spencerian
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.
Why not get the theory + 5 copybooks from Amazon?
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.
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I highly recommend you practice calligraphy, more specifically - spencerian script.
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