JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

I’ve mentioned on this blog a number of times that I like to collect antique art done by children–art, doodles, letters, that sort, mostly from before 1900.  This material is difficult to find, mainly because it was difficult to produce when it was being done given the relative scarcity of paper and pencils/pens/etc., and then having to survive moves and cleanings and generational changes for 100 or 200 years, so from my experience not that much survived.

Today’s sample is a letter from 1868, and the lettering, the handwriting, is very intense, and labored, and very very deliberate while at the same time being written very slowly.  You can tell about the speed when looking at the lettering under magnification–there are a lot of twists and turns in the formation of the letters and words such that could not be made if you were writing fluidly or quickly.  This was slow going.  

Ella, the writer, was probably quite young. She used the period quite a bit, mostly in-between words, but also used it as a mark to show beginning and ending points in some letters. She also used lines and slashes to help her form the letters that she had probably just learned not to long before she wrote this letter.

The effort is superior, and no one could fault little Ella in her brave attempt.