Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1874 — Left Hand Writing. [ARTICLE]

Left Hand Writing.

A correspondent asks for the best way of holding the pen in Avriting with the left hand, and the best angle of slope for the letters. No absolute answer can be given in either case. Hands differ, and what would be an easy position of pen for one person might be a very awkward one for another. Each Avnter must be governed by the necessities of his individual case, to be discovered rather by thoughtful observation of his own Avriting than by the study of rules. It is enough to say that the ideal position figured on the covers of copy books can be maintained but for short periods without excessive fatigue, and only by persons having slender hands. It ansivers well enough for writing as a fine art, but is altogether too stiff and tiresome when much offhand writing is to be done. What is true for the right hand is equally true for the left,— A good deal depends, too, on the mode of Avriting, Avhether the motion is a Avrist stroke or a finger stroke or a combination of the two. Equal freedom must be allowed in regard to the angle or slope of the writing, prevising simply that the greater the departure.from the perpendicular the greater the danger ot illegibility; while a slight slope to right or left adds much to the gracefulness of the script with-, out making it perceptibly less easy to read. In writing Ayitli the leftjhand, the easiest position would seem to be with the body square before the table, the arm making an angle of about forty-five degrees Avith the front line of the table, theTlme of writing being at right angles with the direction of the -arm. In this position the writing is naturally “back hand,” about t\\ r eniy degrees from perpendicular. To the present writer, Avhose left hand practice began rather late in life, in consequence ofan accident which threatened the disabling of the right hand, it is much the easiest way, in left hand writing, to‘ hold the pen reporter-fashion betAveen the first and secohd fingers, as in this position the pen is held steady with the least effort, and is not so likely to wander from a uniform slope. — It is well, hoAvever, to accustom one’s self to a variety of. positions, especially when much writing has to be done, since, by changing the posture, the labor of writing may be thrown on different sets of muscles, and rest obtained without ceasing to write. One of the dearest and most graceful left hand writers of our acquaintance writes a style that oannot be distinguished, save in a slight peculiarity in shading, from normal right hand penmanship.— To one Avatching the process, the writing appears to be upside down. The pen is held between the thumb and forefinger in the regular way; but the paper is so that the lino of writing is perpendicular, to the front of the body, the direction of the writing being toward the body. It seems most natural, however, for the writing to. slope to the left when the left hand i» employed. There is a special advantage in using the left write with, and one that we have never seen ■«v commended. The hand is never' in this way of vision. The pen point is always hi plain sight, and

so is the paper to be written on. — There is, consequently, no inducement to stoop forward or to turn the head so as to throw the eyes out of focus. It is a common fault with those, who write much that the left eye has a shorter range than the right. It is overworked and compelled to adapt itself to nearer vision. In writing with the left hand, these evils are avoided. An upright posture ip the easiest, and the eyes are equally distant from the paper.— Scientific American.