LESSONS IN PENMANSHIP. 



LESSONS IN PENMANSHIP. XXIX. 



BUSINESS HANDWRITING. I. 



IN our present Lesson on Penmanship, we bring before our 

 readers two excellent models of business handwriting, one 

 of which will 

 K'ivo those 

 \\lio may bo 

 seeking a 

 seat in a 

 merchant's 

 counting- 

 house, a clear 

 idea of the 

 kind of writ- 

 ing suitable 

 for mercan- 

 tile corre- 

 spondence, 

 while the 

 other exhi- 

 bits the style 

 best suited 

 for entries in 

 the day book, 

 ledger, jour- 

 nal, and other 

 account 

 books used 

 in every office 

 where a rigid 

 system of 

 book-keeping 

 is main- 

 tained, and 

 the account- 

 ant's duties 

 are efficiently 

 carried out. 



It will be 

 useful for 

 our readers 



to mark the difference between the general character of the 

 handwriting suitable for the business letter, and that which 

 is better calculated for records of mercantile transactions. 

 Although it must be conceded that both specimens of penman- 



SPECIMEN OF BUSINESS HANDWRITING. NO. 1. 



hpiiiwof business U dosed for the evening; while the latter exhi- 

 bit* in an equal degree unmuUkabb signs of the deliberation, 

 method, and thoughtfulneM that should always be exercised by 

 the bookkeeper or accountant, to prevent errors and the dis- 

 figurement of the fair page neatly ruled in red and blue for the 



r'-'-<-jitiv:j of 

 facts and 

 figures, by 

 the use of 

 the pen-knife 

 or eraser to 

 remove any 

 mistake that 

 may have on- 

 fortunately 

 Wn riitt.l- by 

 undue haste 

 on the part 

 of the writer, 

 or want of 

 proper atten- 

 tion to the 

 important 

 task on which 

 he iaengaged. 

 The reader 

 will notice 

 that while 

 the loops and 

 tails of letters 

 in the speci- 

 mens of buui- 

 ness hand- 

 writing in 

 this page are 

 a little longer 

 than thost 

 in the spe- 

 cimens of 

 official hand- 

 writing given 

 in previous 



lessons (see pages 33, 48), they are not carried above or below the 

 body of the letter to the extent that was formerly insisted on in 

 commercial handwriting, and that there is a total absence of all 

 that obnoxious flourishing and redundancy of capital letters, 



S-J/' 





-ft* 



- 





V 



/ ^ ( * r / 



SPECIMEN OF BU8INfc86 HANDWRITING. NO. 2. 



17 



ship are perfectly satisfactory, as far as neatness and legibility 

 concerned, the former is marked by the ease and freedom 

 it a good writer naturally imparts to his handwriting, when, 

 rith ready thought and practised hand, he uses the pen 



which were once considered* as combining to form the height of 

 perfection in the penmanship of the commercial clerk. For busi- 

 ness correspondence and the records of mercantile transactions, 

 as well as for official handwriting, a plain, clear hand, devoid of 



pidly to get through the mass of business correspondence that flourishes and ornamentation of capital letters, is the most d 



oust be cleared off and sent to the nearest post-office before the 



33 N.E. 



able, and will always command the preference of practical 



