208 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR 



LESSONS IN PENMANSHIP. XXXI. 



LEGAL HANDWRITING. 1. 



WE now introduce to the notice of our readers handwriting of 

 a very different description to any that has yet been set before 

 them, namely, an illustration of the "engrossing hand" used 

 by law writers and law stationers in writing, or, to use the 

 technical expression, engrossing deeds and legal documents of 

 various kinds. 



Amongst lawyers the term engrossing means the making of a 

 fair copy of any document on paper or parchment in clear and 

 distinct characters, or, in other words, to transcribe in a legible 

 manner the rough draft of any deed that has been prepared for 

 transcription by a lawyer or barrister. This knowledge will 

 help us to ascertain the meaning of the word engross. It is 

 derived, as a little examination is sufficient to show, from the 

 French preposition en, in,, and the adjective gros, large. The 

 expression to engross, in its literal acceptation, means to make 



! writing, which is slanting and angular, while the former is stiff 

 and upright. The characters in which the words that form the 

 remainder of our specimen of legal engrossing-hand are written, 

 are merely modifications of the ordinary German text, or, which 

 is pretty much the same thing, our ordinary round-hand letters 

 written in a stiff, upright manner, and in such a way as to 

 impart to them the general characteristics of the letters used in 

 German text-hand. 



A little practice will enable the reader to write a very 

 creditable engrossing-hand when he has once found out the way 

 in which the pen ought to be held, and detected the method 

 that is followed in the formation of the different letters. It is 

 clear, in the first place, that the pen cannot possibly be held in 

 the ordinary way, with the end pointing over the right shoulder 

 in a direction from right to left, as many of the perpendicular 

 and horizontal thick strokes that appear in the writing could 

 not be made when the pen is held in such a position. The pen 

 (and for engrossing a quill should be used in preference to a 



SPECIMEN OF LEGAL ENGROSSING HAND. 



large, and therefore distinct, as the larger in reason are the ! 

 characters in which a document is written, the more distinct 

 and legible they are. Hence the word engross, which, in its 

 primary sense, merely means to make large, has taken a 

 secondary meaning, namely, to copy writing in large or distinct 

 characters ; and we can also trace the force of the simple and 

 original meaning in a third signification that has been assigned 

 to the word, when we speak of a person who is occupied in 

 prime absorbing pursuit as being wholly engrossed in his occupa- 

 tion his employment, be it what it may, having taken such a 

 hold on him, and assumed such large proportions in his mind, 

 that he has little or no room there, if we may be permitted to 

 use the expression, for other thoughts. 



In the specimen of legal engrossing-hand before us, we may 

 trace the very source from whence it has sprung by an exami- 

 nation of the characters that are used in it. Of the letters that 

 compose the first word of the first line, Whereas, there can be 

 no doubt whatever, as they are simply characters written boldly 

 and clearly in what is called German text, so termed from its 

 close resemblance to the characters in which the majority of 

 German works are printed. It must be borne in mind that 

 German text in no way resembles the ordinary German hand- 



steel pen) is held pointing over the knuckle of the forefinger of 

 the right hand in a direction bearing from left to right, while 

 the nib is placed at such an angle with the paper that a thick 

 perpendicular or horizontal stroke may be readily made, the 

 former by turning the pen a little to the left and drawing it 

 downwards in a straight line, and the latter by turning the pen 

 a little to the right and drawing it in a transverse direction 

 from left to right. 



The remainder of the strokes that form the rest of the letters 

 in our specimen are formed, for the most part, by moving 

 the pen downwards in a semi-circular motion from left to right. 

 The kind of stroke that is meant will be recognised on looking 

 at the letters m and n, which are formed entirely by a repetition 

 of the stroke, thrice for the letter m, and twice for the letter n. 

 The small letters, c and e, which may be seen together in since, 

 the second word in the sixth line, present the most striking 

 peculiarities in engrossing-hand : the former is a short, thick, 

 perpendicular stroke, crossed at the top by a short horizontal 

 line slightly turned upwards towards the finish; while the e is the 

 stroke of which the letters m and n are formed, with a stroke 

 rather longer and turned up more at its completion than that 

 with which the letter c is finished. 



