In The Art And Science Of Handwriting, Rosemary Sassoon draws upon her many years of study to present a complete treatise on handwriting. The topics and issues she covers include an analysis of penholds, the variability of written letterforms, medical and therapeutic aspects of handwriting, children's signatures, writer's cramp, curriculum planning, handwriting as an indicator of stress, and the psychology of calligraphy. The Art And Science Of Handwriting is unique, scholarly, and fascinating.

I found the book very technical and hard to penetrate, I just wanted to get down to the bottom line of how to improve handwriting, with practical guidelines, and this book wasn't very helpful.

I have always reveled in my eccentric handwriting. As my academic career progressed, I was writing less and less for other people, mostly just class notes for myself, and I made little attempt to write legibly. I was the only one who could read my increasingly "individual" penmanship unless I made a great effort to write clearly. Finally, though, I had trouble puzzling out my own handwriting at times, and I realized something had to be done. I had come to admire those with clear handwriting, and I wanted to develop a quick, readable hand.

This book agrees with advice I've found in several sources: the italic alphabet is attractive and easy to write, the distinction between printing and handwriting is artificial, and the torturous cursive script we're taught in elementary school does most students more harm than good. Though the book does not require strict adherence to their italic model, I like it quite a bit, and I'm happy to integrate it into my own hand.

Within minutes of beginning the simplest exercises I realized I'd been holding the pen wrong for as long as I can remember! Changing my grip required some awkward retraining, but once I adapted I realized that, for me, the traditional grip lends itself to more natural and comfortable motions, and my fountain pens work better, too! If it doesn't work for you, though, another grip is discussed.

This is an excellent example of how the book works. It is not about changing your writing to the one correct way. It shows you how to experiment to find the best way for you personally to write. This doesn't mean your handwriting will improve without any effort on your part, but I've found the exercises relaxing, almost meditative. It's difficult to face each new challenge, fumbling to find a way to form the letters properly, but once I've found the way and practice it for a few half-hour sessions, the new method appears in my casual handwriting. I'm very pleased by the increase in the legibility and attractiveness of my handwriting. I don't have to concentrate anymore to write better; with practice my penmanship has improved naturally.

My only problem with the book is that it's a little too vague. I like being able to choose the exercises most relevant to my own writing problems, but some more advice on how to practice would be nice, like "Do one page of Exercise A, then 15 lines of Exercise L, then go on to Exercise M for ten minutes." I realize that different writers will have different needs, but I'm not sure sometimes if I'm doing too little of one thing and not enough of another--though I'm getting a better feel for that as I go along.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who feels their handwriting needs improvement. Better handwriting will make life easier in a lot of ways!

I recently started collecting fountain pens. To do my collection justice I needed to improve my handwriting. This book did more than teach me how to write better, it taught me to discover and create a personal character in my writing. The practice sessions returned a sense of control immediately. For the first time in my life I actually got complements on my penmanship. I continue to tweek things here and there and my fountain pens are most appreciative.

I read this book to gain insight towards helping my two young cousins correct their difficulties with written excercises. Rosemary Sassoon outlines a step-by-step process for helping children learn "the right way" from the beggining. This book includes warm-up excercises for developing unrestricted had movement, excercises for developing hand control, precision, and personal style. I found this book at my local library, and am trying to locate it to add to personal collection. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is trying to help children learn to write!