

Recent Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, Articles, &c. 155 



Green cloth, 8Jin. X 5Jin., pp. xi. + 392 ; 37 plates and 8 illustrations 

 in text. The former include a portrait of his father, Samuel Pitman, of 

 Trowbridge, and 5 portraits of himself, at 32 (painted by J. B. Keene) ; 

 at 46, and 55 (photos); the marble bust by T. Brock ; and the posthumous 

 portrait by A. S. Cope, now in the National Portrait Gallery. There 

 are also a photographic group of " Isaac Pitman & Sons," and views of 

 " St. James' Church, Trowbridge," " School attended by Isaac Pitman at 

 Trowbridge," and " Kingston House, Bradford-on-Avon." His various 

 residences and Phonetic Institutes at Bath and elsewhere are also 

 illustrated. 



" The Life Story of Sir Isaac Pitman has been related in many forms, 

 but not hitherto with the completeness which has been attempted in the 

 present volume . . . The ' Biography of Isaac Pitman,' written by 

 Mr. T. A. Eeed in 1890 . . . has of necessity been freely drawn on." 

 So says the author in his preface. This is in short the " official " 

 biography of one who "in the directions of stenography and phonetic 

 spelling must be reckoned amongst those who have exercised an unusually 

 great and happy influence upon their race." "Isaac Pitman's achieve- 

 ment is unique, its success has been phenomenal. The majority of the 

 systems of English shorthand have passed into oblivion, or are practised 

 by a few, while the method of writing for which the world is indebted to 

 his genius has come into universal use." 



As Sir Isaac devoted his long life and his amazing industry and 

 perseverance, practically to two objects : Phonography in which he 

 attained such a remarkable success, and " Spelling Reform," in which 

 happily his failure was equally complete, it is only natural that the great 

 bulk of the " Life " should be taken up with the technicalities of these 

 subjects which curiously enough he seems himself to have regarded as 

 of almost equal importance. In fact a great part.of the book is practically 

 a history of the evolution of shorthand as at present practised, and of the 

 untiring efforts of its inventor to induce an unsympathetic world to embark 

 on a phonetic system of spelling which would have made every book 

 already printed in the English language unreadable to the next generation. 

 The appendices contain a reprint of " Stenographic Sound-hand," 

 published in 1837 (pp. 333 — 348) ; a note on " The Evolution of Phono- 

 graphy " ; and a very valuable " Bibliography " of his Works, which are 

 divided into five classes, Shorthand Works, Books in Shorthand character, 

 Periodicals, Spelling Reform Tracts, and Books in Reformed Spelling, 

 occupying pp. 355 — 379 of small print, a truly astonishing life's work ! 



Long notice, with cut of the School in the Parish Churchyard, Wiltshire 

 Times, Jan. 2nd ; notice and portraits, &c, Illust. Lond. iV 7 ew*,May 8th, 

 1909. 



Reviewed, Spectator, Jan. 30th; Guardian, Feb. 24th, 1909. 



Gleanings of the Robins or Robbins Family of 



England, with lithograph of armorial window and other engravings. 

 By the Rev. Mills Robbins, Holy Trinity Vicarage, West Chobham, 



