İmproved Means for Teaching Writing.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 16th June, 1891-Accepted, 18th July, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFTUATION.
İmproved Means for Teaching Writing.
I, ALFRED DORST of 21 Bloomsbury Street Oxford Street W. in the County
of London Clerk do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to facilitate the learning and teaching of writing
and to provide signs and characters by which the formation of letters may be
guided.
To this end the invention consists in sheets or writing surfaces of any nature
having on them the signs hereinafter described and illustrated which are intended
to guide the eye of the learner for the formation of letters.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a view of a piece of a page of a writing
book in which the improved characters are shown, it being intended that the signs
and marks shown on this sheet or page should be printed in an ink of pale color
or else made in dotted lines so that the writing of the learner may be plainly
visible over the said marks as is usual in so called "copying books” when the
original script is to be written over by the learner.
In place of writing or printing actual letters or words, the sheet is covered with
the characters here shown Fig. 2 being an enlarged view of the character on which
capital letters are to be written, this same character bearing the marks necessary
to guide the eye in forming any one of the capital letters of script writing. The
forms of these capital letters are shown in Fig. 3 the main outline of the
characters on which they are written being shown in this figure in dotted lines but
the subsidiary outlines being omitted for sake of clearness of illustration although
they are not so omitted in practice, the characters appearing always as in the first
line of Fig. 1.
1°
Thus referring to Fig. 2 the character on which any capital letter may be
traced or written is seen to consist of two inclined ovals of equal size ab having
the curves or scrolls c d e f g hj k l m n o p q-and placed between the lines and s
with the parallel cross line t, these lines not being however essential. The position
of the curves and lines a to q will be governed by the desired form of the letters
so that it is not essential that they, or any of them, should occupy exactly the
position shown. Thus the line c is the commencement of the letters A. M. N.
The line d is the commencement (or end) of the letters B. FI. K. P. R. S. T.
The line e enters into the composition of the letters B. F. P. R. T. U. X. Y. Z. The
line f. together with forms part of the B. P. R and partly of D and Q. The
line g belongs to the letters C. G. L and S. The line forms part of
the same letters C. G. and S. The line enters into the composition of the
letters H. K M. N R. U. V. W. Y. and Z as a guiding stroke. is the com-
mencing point for the letters H. I. J. K. D. (ending) QZ U. Y X; m indicates
where the first short downstroke is to be made in writing H. 1. J. K V and W.
n is guiding stroke for the letter D. The line o is guiding stroke for the second
rising stroke of the M and N and second main downstroke of the W. The line p
is a guide for the second downstroke of the M and the concluding upstroke of
the W. The line y is the ending of letters such as A. B. C E. H KL. MQ. RU X
and Z. It will be understood that these lines may be altered, added to or omitted
without departing from this invention which contemplates the use of one guiding
character to indicate the position and formation of the principal strokes of all the
capital letters so that the latter being all formed upon one model the characteristics
of the writing may be the same throughout the whole and the relations of the
letters one to the other in their form be more easily understood.

page_text: ין
For the formation of the smaller letters the character remains also the same for
each being always a series of inclined ovals placed in contact along or between
parallel lines. For the larger sizes of writing each of these ovals may be provided
with a small point or mark u Fig. 1 indicating the position to be given to the tail
of the letter and the upper loop of the letter s. Between each oval and the next
there may also be drawn an inclined line but in smaller writing the marks u may
be omitted and the inclined lines be placed only for instance after every fourth,
sixth, ninth oval as may be desired according to the degree of fineness as shown in
lines 2 and 3 of Fig. 1. As the pupil becomes more advanced the ovals may be
ommitted and the inclined lines alone be left for spacing and inclination of the
letters. Fig. 4 shows a specimen of writing showing the formation of small letters
upon the ovals.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is :-
The means for the teaching of writing consisting in a writing surface having
thercon the characters hercin described for guiding the formation of capital and
small letters or either of them.
101
1001
HERBERT & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C., Agents to Applicant.