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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. It consisted of 32 pages of text, four plates of engraved writing samples and a frontispiece. It was recommended by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock. Jenkins' system became the standard in America, and a revised second edition was published in 1813 by Flagg & Gould.

See also

• Platt Rogers Spencer, who created a later writing system

References

1. ^ Jill Gage (January 22, 2018). "Righting the Penmanship of America". Newberry Library.
2. ^ 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 1 November 2024). JSTOR 23251389.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
3. "The Art of Writing...Book I..." Metropolitan Museum of Art.

External links

• Complete text of The Art of Writing (1813) at the Internet Archive

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