LESSONS IN SHORTHAND. 



oertainty as to the meaning of the written character, the Mine 

 ! legibility utterly independent of the context. The Bible 

 in Phonography in, to the practised student, as easy to read as 

 th.' Hil>li- in ordinary type. Nay more, so certain is the system 

 in its reaulta that the most intricate, the most technical, the 

 most delicate correspondence may be carried on between two 

 phonogrnphiTH with all the clearness of the most legible long- 

 hand. Time makes no difference to its readabloness : that which 

 was written ten years ago is as easy to decipher as that which 

 was written to-day. Nor is the memory called in to assist the 

 eye in this matter. The writer once, when taking down a speech 

 by one of our leading orators, fell into a profound reverie on a 

 matter of deep personal interest, and awoke to consciousness to 

 find as he supposed, that he had missed full ten minutes of an 

 address which it was his duty to write out then and there for 

 to-morrow morning's daily paper. Turning to his note-book in 

 a kind of despair, his delight scarcely knew bounds when he 

 found that the practised hand had registered every sound as it 

 fell on the equally practised ear, and that every word that had 

 been uttered was as legible to him as if it had been printed in 

 bold Roman letters. It is probable that no other system of 

 shorthand would this have been possible, because in no other 

 system is the character so certain, the context so entirely a 

 matter of indifference. And it is in virtue of this clearness, this 

 certainty, this never-failing legibility, that Phonography has 

 been able to make to itself a literature. One phonographer 

 can read another phonographer's writing, provided such writing 

 be not slovenly and imperfect, as easily as he can read his own, 

 and he can read lithographed Phonography as easily as he can 

 read print. 



203. We now proceed to our sketch. Phonographic literature 

 may be conveniently divided into four branches : 1. Educational, 

 2. Periodical, 3. Bibliothecal, 4. Recommendatory and Eulogistic. 



204. In the Educational division we have first of all three 

 works which lead the student up to the point at which we leave 

 him the " Phonographic Teacher," the "Phonographic Reader," 

 and the " Manual of Phonography." These three books contain 

 all that is necessary to induct the learner into a knowledge of 

 the art as it is used in correspondence and business, and for 

 making notes and memoranda. For the actual work of profes- 

 sional reporting, where greater speed and consequently greater 

 brevity are requisite, there is, as will be seen directly, another 

 set of books which, while utilising all that has gone before, 

 develop the system almost indefinitely, rendering it possible to 

 follow with case the most rapid speaker. While grounding the 

 student in Phonography proper, however, as distinct from the 

 Reporting branch of the art, the three works we have mentioned 

 are not the only ones belonging to this period of study. There 

 is an invaluable little volume, upon which immense labour must 

 have been expended, entitled " A Phonetic Shorthand and Pro- 

 nouncing Dictionary of the English Language." It holds to 

 Phonography the same relation which a dictionary holds to a 

 language. In it are to be found the easiest and most legible 

 methods of writing the longest and most awkward words. None 

 4 but those who in the earlier stages of their learning have availed 

 themselves of this useful little volume, know the difficulties it 

 smooths over, or the ease and clearness it imparts to their 

 writing. At this period, too, certain of the shorthand magazines 

 give useful help to the student, but of those we shall speak 

 presently. 



205. We now como on to the Educational literature of the 

 "Reporting Style" that is, the style which is indispensable to 

 the intending reporter. First of all there is the " Phonographic 

 Reporter, or Reporter's Companion," which is to reporters' 

 Phonography what the " Manual " is to ordinary Phonography. 

 It lays down principles for shortening the system, gives addi- 

 tional grammalogues, leads the learner further into the labour- 

 saving paths of phraseography, and closes with a number of 

 admirably arranged exercises. As with the " Manual " so with 

 the " Reporter's Companion : " it contains all that the student 

 absolutely requires to know. But in the same manner as the 

 " Dictionary " supplements the " Manual," so are there other 

 works which supplement the " Reporter," and lighten the labour 

 of practice. One of these is the " Phonographic Phrase Book," 

 which contains, together with a preliminary essay on the prin- 

 ciples of phraseography, somewhere between three and four 

 thousand useful phrases, written in such a way as to combine 

 the maximum of cose with the maximum of clearness. Two other 



work* the " Reporter'* Beading Book " and the "Reporter's 

 Guide" complete with a few minor exceptions, the Educa- 

 tional literature of the " Reporting Style " of Phonography. 

 The first contains elaborate reading lesion* in shorthand, with 

 a longhand key, enabling the student to practise from dictation 

 and compare his work with a recognised standard of food 

 Phonography afterwards. The second is filled with every sort 

 of technical information concerning the preparation of copy for 

 the press and the correction of proofs. Both are of very con- 

 siderable value to the intending reporter, and may be consulted 

 by all shorthand students with great advantage. 



206. Turning to the Periodical literature of Phonography, we 

 find that the system boasts a number of magazines, some of 

 which appear weekly and some monthly. The majority of them 

 are replete with articles which combine instruction with enter- 

 tainment. Some of them contain papers which solve the 

 student's difficulties, others give him valuable information upon 

 points likely to be of special value to him in his profession. 

 Others again travel out of the technical into the general, and 

 win his suffrages by their literary merit alone. The uses of 

 these magazines are simply incalculable. If we were to single 

 out one of them, for the purpose of recommending it to the 

 student, it would be the Phonetic Journal, published weekly, 

 Id. In addition to a large amount of literary matter, printed 

 partly in the common spelling and partly in phonetic spelling, 

 each number contains several pages of lithographed shorthand. 

 Nothing is of more importance to the shorthand writer than 

 that he should be able to read with ease what he has written ; 

 nor is there any point of practice more frequently neglected. 

 It is too often forgotten that in learning a language the first 

 thing we do is to read it fluently. It is too often thought suffi- 

 cient to write swiftly and " let the reading come." No error is 

 more fatal to accurate or swift transcription. And it is there- 

 fore that these phonographic magazines are so helpful to the 

 student. They accustom him to read. They do more : they 

 accustom his eye to correct spelling and correct form both 

 matters of prime necessity in all shorthand work. The reader 

 of Dickens cannot forget how poor David Copperfield, after 

 travelling a weary way through some antique system of steno- 

 graphy, until he was able to follow with difficulty Tom Traddles* 

 impassioned declamation, suddenly found out that he had to 

 retrace the whole journey, because he could not decipher a 

 phrase of what he had written. So will it be with the student 

 of Phonography unless he accustom his eye to read that which 

 his hand may so readily be taught to trace ; and in this view of 

 the case we are by no means sure that we ought not to hare 

 included the phonographic magazines among the strictly educa- 

 tional literature of the system. 



207. In the Bibliothecal division we have a proof at once of 

 the capabilities of Phonography and the universality of its use 

 among those who write shorthand. Nothing but a very large 

 constituency of phonographers could repay the enterprise which 

 has bronght into existence so many handsome library volumes, 



I all beautifully lithographed in shorthand some in plain Phono- 

 graphy, and some in Reporting. First, we have a magnificent 

 edition of the Holy Bible, to be had either in roan gilt or morocco 

 gilt, in size an octavo, and, though written in ordinary Phono- 

 graphy, not thicker than a printed reference Bible such as one 

 carries to his place of worship in his pocket. Then we hare, simi- 

 larly bound and got up, a Church Service and a book of Common 

 Prayer, the former in Reporting, the latter in Phonography. The 

 Bible complete is in Phonography, but parts of it, as for instance 

 the New Testament, and some other portions, are published sepa- 

 rately in handsome bindings in an easy Reporting Style. A list of 

 all the published books it is, of course, impossible to give, but a 

 catalogue may be obtained on application at the Phonetic Depot, 

 20, Paternoster Row, London. 



208. The fourth department of phonographic literature must 

 be dismissed in a sentence or two. It consists mainly of tracts 

 and pamphlets illustrative of the advantages of Phonography 

 wisely urging the young man setting out in life to master it, 

 and pointing out the thousand and one ways in which it may be 

 made subservient to the daily necessities even of those who can 

 conceive of no present use for it. Some of these tracts are 

 reprints of publications or speeches from America and the 

 colonies ; others have their origin nearer home. Others, again, 

 are the production of the fertile brain and facile pen of the 

 venerable inventor of Phonography, Mr. Isus Pitman, who 



