St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-26
History OF Shorthand.

In the following DfleT outline or the
origin and rise of shorthand it will not
be possible at this writing to do more
than consider few of the more prom
inent landmarks that appear, by the
way, in this noble art, which stands out
side by side with steam and electricity
as one of the mighty factors that have
revOlutioniZed the methods of the COM
mercial word within the last fifty years.
The first true system of shorthand
was probably invented by a freedman
by the name Of Marcus Julius Trio, q
friend of Cicero. about the year 60 b.
c.; yet it is certain that the Egyptians,
PerSianS and Greeks had abbreviated or
word writing from the earliest times.
During the middle ages the art seems to
have been entirely neglected.
Modern shorthand dates from the re-
vival of learning in the reign of Eliza
beth, when DR.. Timothy Bright issued
a small treatise Oh the subject, entitled
''Characterie, an Arte of ShOrte, Swifte
and Secrete Writing by Character.
Inuented by Timothy Bright, Doctor
of Phisike. Imprinted at London by |.
Wendell, the Assigne of Tim Bright,
1858: Cum privilegiO Regi2 Maiesta-
tiS'-Forbidding all others to print the
same" The system was not alphabetic
in the sense in which that
term is usually understood, although
the author alludes to the signs as
alphabetical, and in his ''characterie
table, each alphabetic group of words
is represented by signs identical at the
with "A' were composed of perpen-
dicular stroke, the signlficatiOn of the
words depending on an addition at the
base. There were four slopes that
could be given to each letter.and twelve
ways of varying the base, so that forty
eight words could be written under
each letter of the alphabet when neces-
sary: though this was seldom done. The
list of "characterie' words numbered
5377, all of which must be committed to
memory. By applying particular
mark, generally dot, to one side or the
other of a ''characterie" word the mean
ing was changed from the one origin
ally intended, to synonymous word, or
one of exactly contrary meaning, ac-
cording to position.
In 1902, John Willis. bachelor of di-
Vinity. invented and issued what is re-
garded as the first English stenOgraphic
alphabet. His system was based upon
the photography of the language, and
was called "spelling characterize to
distinguish it from those already pub
lished in which each character repre-
scented an entire word.
From this time to the pub cation of
Isaac Pitman'S Photography, in 1887,
the history of shorthand is little more
than repetition of titles. Mr.. Pitman
was the first to resolve the language
into its elementary sounds and success
fully invent symbols by which a pure
phonetic writing might be attained, that
received the general recognition and
acceptance of the pubic; from that
time to this, the art has
been rapidly coming into popular
favOr. until to-day the wheels of CON-
merce would be almost entirely stopped
if the stenOgrapherS were to disappear
from our midst. From the time of the
invention of Mr.. |. Pitman'S phonog-
raphy to 1877 the history of shorthand
is again little more than a series of
names of persons who have aimed to
do little else than to reverse the vowel
scale, OF change the alphabet in some of
its minor details.
About this time an American system
of shorthand was invented and pub
liShed by Rev. j. &. Cross. A. NJ, who
had been reporter and teacher of sew
eral Pitmanic systems since 1852, having
successfully gone through Pitman, Ora
ham, Munson, Lindsey and others.
While teaching photography to class
Of some fifty students in 1877, he was so
fOrcibly impressed with the difficulties
arising from combining strokes drawn
in so many different directions, so that
there was no uniformity in the action of
the hand (referring to the manner of
writing photography, that he was led
to comparison between the action of
the hand in writing lOnghand and short
hand, etc. This was the birth of the
Cross Eclectic Shorthand, of which so
much is heard. The chief characteristics
of the system are:
FirSt-ItS alphabet is based on the
ellipse, which is the same movement as
i'll lOnghand, instead of the circle, as in
the older systems.
SecOnd-The vowels are represented
by strokes, the same as the conSOnants,
thus giving it tleXibility and legibility
unknown to its predecessors.
Although this system met with the
most bitter opposition OH all sides, from
its inception, by reason of its having de-
parted from the ancient paths of its
predecessors, yet to-day it stands in the
front rank of the profession, its devOteeS
being numbered by the thousands and
found in all parts of the country from
the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the
gulf to Hudson's bay.
The Eclectic is to other systems as the
steamboat of Robert Fulton compared
with the steamers of to-day.
Any further information relative to
shorthand will be furnished and school
catalogue sent by applying to Mrs.Anna
G. Drew, principal Northwestern Eclec-
tic college, st. Paul.