Cannons of Renaissance Handwriting

Abstract

Due to the greatly increased demand for clear, rapid handwriting by secretaries in the service of government, church, and commerce, Renaissance writing masters found themselves playing an important role as instructors. In producing their manuals for students, the writing masters utilized the recent technically developed script of scholars and diplomats and churchmen, the cancellaresca cursiva. The teaching of seven Renaissance writing masters is assembled to examine separately what the masters had to say about basic elements of writing—slope, pen angle, letter proportion, length of ascenders, spacing, and joining. Having thus identified the fundamental canons that regulated the classic chancery hand of the Renaissance, the author applies them to modern systems of italic handwriting and concludes that the models of Alfred Fairbank as seen in his Handwriting Manual and the Beacon Writing Series come closest to the spirit and teaching of the early writing masters. He supports the use of the edged pen as a teaching aid for young children.