The People, Stories and Ideas Behind Iconic Handwriting

What makes an individual’s handwriting stand the test of time? Certainly the document it forms plays a role, but the truly iconic examples have something more to them. Here’s a look at some of our favorite iconic handwriting samples and the people, stories and ideas behind them.

Jacob Shallus: The Constitution

The United States Constitution’s iconic final draft owes a lot to the handwriting of its under-recognized penman Jacob Shallus.  Shallus embossed the document, including its iconic preamble, in less than two days in 1787.  His distinct calligraphy is known and revered by U.S. history teachers, students and enthusiasts nation-wide.

Size of Writing:

The Preamble’s opening words and the Articles’ headings are appropriately oversized for emphasis and distinction.  “We the People,” perhaps the most notorious phrase of the Constitution, is largest.  The smaller body text of the Constitution is ergonomic, yet remains elegant with its fine print.

Style & Legibility:

Shallus wrote The Constitution in two distinct handwritings.  The headings are written in an archaic Gothic-style calligraphy, with sharp serif angles and elegant capital letters.  The body is written in quaint cursive, with consistent italics and narrow loops.  Though The Constitution has faded considerably in the past two centuries, Shallus’ cursive is very fine, and thankfully easy to decipher.

Jacob Shallus did a superb job of embossing the Constitution with elegant penmanship.  Because he used a pen, however, there are some ‘errata’ at the bottom of each page.  Had he used a pencil, Shallus could have easily used an eraser to draft an errorless document before committing to ink.

George Orwell: 1984 Manuscripts

George Orwell wrote one of the most well-known science fiction novels of the 20^th century: 1984.  The dystopian novel takes the reader through the life of Winston Smith, a citizen of Big Brother’s totalitarian regime in a future London called Oceania.  Orwell’s handwritten manuscripts show the long and messy editing process that goes into writing a novel:

Size:

From how it appears, Orwell’s handwriting is small enough to fit a lot of writing onto a page. While writing edits in the margins, Orwell has to write considerably tinier.

Style & Legibility:

Orwell’s handwriting is functional – it is quick, streamlined and spaced enough to allow Orwell to edit over the page.  Party slogans “WAR IS PEACE/FREEDOM IS SLAVERY/IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” have a very emotional, biting quality in Orwell’s capital letters.

The manuscript isn’t exactly easy-to-read.  Luckily the typewriter was available in 1948, so Orwell didn’t have to fret about penmanship.

Though this draft of 1984 was not intended for readers’ eyes, Orwell may have had an easier time editing his drafts with the pencil’s eraser in order to reduce the editorial clutter.

Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass Draft

Walt Whitman is considered by many to be the godfather of American poetry.   His writing is distinct for its grand tone, exciting and encouraging.  The many documented pieces of Whitman’s handwriting show that his handwriting matched his poetic style.

Size:

Whitman wrote his letters and his poems with big letters.  His W’s are usually the largest letters of his notes and poems.

Style & Legibility:

Walt Whitman’s handwriting is as lively as his poetry.  Whitman’s style is a sloppy but proud cursive with bombastic capitals and dramatic tails.  As a poet, he has a lot of space to work with – his words and letters are spread out in a way that’s readable but doesn’t sacrifice design.

When he wrote the above section of Leaves of Grass, Whitman must have been too excited to worry about readability.  Several of his words require a second take to dicipher.  That said, most of his words can be made out on the first glance, and his signature really jumps out of the page.

Are you writing future history’s essentially important document?  Draft it out before with one of our fine writing pencils before you type it.

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