Last year, the Peirce College Library began a conversation
with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) about the Penmanship Collection in
our archives. Based on this discussion, a number of staff members from HSP visited
Peirce to see the materials. They were impressed with the depth of the collection
and the story it tells about penmanship education in nineteenth-century
Philadelphia.
When HSP began to assemble an exhibit on the history of
penmanship and penmanship education, Tara O’Brian, the Director of Conservation
and Preservation, invited us to be a part of the display. The exhibit, “Pen to Paper” opened earlier
this month and features a few notable items on loan from the Peirce Archives.
When Peirce students enrolled in the penmanship program in
the 1880s, they were asked to submit a sample of their handwriting in the form
of a letter to Thomas May Peirce. At the end of the program they would write
the same letter, showing how the methods taught by the Peirce faculty improved
their penmanship skills.
A few of these student samples are included in the Historical
Society’s exhibit. The display also contains a letter written by Thomas May
Peirce, showing his own penmanship skills. Our founder’s letter is in good
company, displayed next to a letter
written by Michelangelo to Pope Leo X. Another interesting non-Peirce piece in
the collection is an 1865 lithograph
of Abraham Lincoln appearing through the text of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The exhibit captures the importance of skilled penmanship in the
pre-typewritten world through the lens of Pennsylvania people and
institutions.
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| Thomas May Peirce's Example of Perfect Penmanship |
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| Letter from Michelangelo to Pope Leo X |
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| 1865 lithograph of Abraham Lincoln appearing through the text of the Emancipation Proclamation |
