The beauty of personal style
In stone inscriptions the Romans used only capital letters, though they developed other styles for everyday writing. The carver first drew the inscription with chalk and then painted the letters with a brush. The sweep of the brush gave the letters their shape and made thick and thin strokes. The stone carver followed the same line when carving out the letters with an iron chisel. (Brookfield, Book 17)
I've always enjoyed studying samples of handwritten text because I like to observe the subtle differences in style. There's a beauty in the letters that you don't usually notice in computer-generated script.
I think writing by hand sometimes helps us feel more connected to our words, which is probably why manuscript is still used despite the alternatives. One example I can think of is greeting cards for special occasions and holidays--we usually write out a personal message to the intended recipient regardless of how fitting and meaningful the printed text is.
Comments
Perhaps it will become less and less popular, but I doubt manuscript will ever disappear completely. In fact, it is likely that technology may actually help preserve it; there are already devices that allow people to produce handwritten messages on computers by writing on a digital tablet or directly on a monitor.
Posted by: ChrisU | January 29, 2008 1:28 AM
Do you think with the growth of technology that some day the manuscript will be phased out completely?
Posted by: Leslie Rodriguez | January 28, 2008 9:59 PM
how true. I mean, would you get all warm and fuzzy reading a typed christmas card. And those e-cards just don't have the same effect as the paper ones do. Hand writing means more to someone because they will know that you took the time to sit down and write with your own hands instead of taking the fast route and just clicking a button or two on the computer.
Posted by: Daniella Choynowski | January 28, 2008 7:01 PM