Oh, I like Farr’s little Q&A “rules” (Ku & Ay), but not so much the shameless rebranding of Spencerian.
I don’t think he was the only one, though. Oh well, everyone’s gotta eat.
His rule for the “practical r” after “eyelette letters” makes a lot of sense to me.
As for rules, I love Father Spencer’s own comment on this:
"In presenting definite rules for the proper formation of letters, it is not designed to confine the skill and ingenuity of the writer within narrow limits, nor to prevent the exercise of peculiar tastes. We desire, rather, to encourage individuality of style, so far as may be consistent with
propriety ..."
Farr’s comments about learning ambidexterously caught my attention! Early in my learning I’d encountered Diego Irigoyen’s encouragement for boosting penmanship skills by writing with both hands. His e-book goes on to describe the benefits for using both hands for many different physical skills. I did practice my penmanship with both hands for awhile, but decided that at my age there’s only a limited amount of time to learn, and maybe I should just focus on my dominant hand! Still, I love studying the science of learning and human potential, and think it may have value.
https://www.dieyen.com/practical-penmanship
