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The 26 Letters by Oscar Ogg

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KindaSkolarly

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The 26 Letters by Oscar Ogg

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Here's a disturbing article:

Children struggle to hold pencils due to too much tech, doctors say
https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... octors-say

The piece made me think of a book called The 26 Letters by Oscar Ogg. I read it years ago and would recommend it to anyone interested in the development of writing. Profusely illustrated and written at maybe a 9th grade level, very accessible. And informative.

From a review:

One of America's foremost calligraphers here tells the complete and fascinating story of writing characters. In the days before history men scratched upon the walls of their caves animal portraits and startlingly lifelike hunting scenes. Later, the Egyptians produced a really systematic means of writing, and their decorative hieroglyphics were in use as long as five thousand years before the birth of Christ. In spite of their various styles of writing—hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic—the Egyptians never really produced a true alphabet. That step, the most important of all, was taken by the efficient, commercial Phoenicians, who quite ironically made one of the greatest contributions to civilization when they carried their writing to the peninsula of Greece. In Greece, the letters, which hitherto had varied widely according to the whim of the writer, became well-formed, definite characters. The Romans made further improvements and incorporated into their alphabet all the letters that we have today except J, U and W. They produced on memorial columns the most beautiful capital letters that have ever been inscribed.

The evolution of small letters followed. From the Roman incised capitals a succession of scribes over a span of centuries developed first the Square Capitals, then the Rustic Capitals. By the fifth century A.D. manuscript work was chiefly conducted in Christian monasteries where the beautiful unicals and semiunicals were perfected. Charlemagne undertook to revise the somewhat haphazard recording of Church literature and under him Alcuin of York designed the exquisite Caroline letter, which was the forerunner of all modern small-letter alphabets. In the hands of his followers the Caroline small letters continued to changed in character and finish, attaining their present form several centuries before the invention of printing....

goodreads.com/book/show/6309645-the-26- ... 26-letters

I guess computer keyboard work is just another step in the evolution of writing, but I suspect it's a step back. I mean, if kids can't even hold pencils... Plus there's the disastrous Common Core de-emphization of cursive writing in American public schools. I believe cursive has been dropped from the curricula of more than forty states now. Makes me wonder if we're moving forward or backward.

Anyway, if you're interested in the history of alphabets and writing, you might enjoy The 26 Letters.

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