Author Topic: Compendium of Semi Angular Penmanship Book 10 and Book 13  (Read 1613 times)

Offline jccosta

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Compendium of Semi Angular Penmanship Book 10 and Book 13
« on: March 13, 2019, 02:35:08 PM »
Hi all,

First of all, I am sorry if this is not in the right place (this is my first post).
I have a question for the forum Spencerian historians. ;)
What is the difference between the  Platt Rogers Spencer's Compendium of Semi Angular Penmanship Book 10 and Book 13? They do look the same except for the book number and cover color.

Jonathas.

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: Compendium of Semi Angular Penmanship Book 10 and Book 13
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2019, 04:33:42 PM »
Hi all,

First of all, I am sorry if this is not in the right place (this is my first post).
I have a question for the forum Spencerian historians. ;)
What is the difference between the  Platt Rogers Spencer's Compendium of Semi Angular Penmanship Book 10 and Book 13? They do look the same except for the book number and cover color.

Jonathas.
@jccosta
Thank you for asking this question. It's a delight to see a question that, as far as I know, hasn't been asked (and answered many times) on this forum before.
The two books are, indeed, very similar, but there are some subtle differences observable upon close examination of each. Book 13, despite its higher number, was published earlier, in 1857, during P. R. Spencer's lifetime, versus book 10, in 1866, two years after PRS's death at the behest of his sons, who were carrying on his work. If you look at the title pages of each, you'll see book 13 was published by Phinney & Co, Buffalo, NY, and by 1866, that company had evolved into Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co., New York (I won't go into the history of that evolution here). Also on the title page of book 13 the lithographer--H. Gerlach, Buffalo--is mentioned, but not so on book 10.
The covers:  Book 13 was printed in more than one cover variation. The two copies I have are both bound in in blue cloth with blind stamped decoration (front and back) surrounding gold lettering. The fancier of the two has gilded pages (the edges, of course) and the gold is a red-gold, and the blind stamping is, shall we call it, type 1, whereas the other copy has type two blind stamping--just a different design.
Book 10 also came in at least two varieties of cover, one with redgold lettering and type 2 blind stamping, and the other--the yellow cover you see, is simply printed cardboard--a cheaper version--binding. Not unlike today, publishers will offer a deluxe version and a cheaper version, the contents being the same.
The interior:  The plates used to print book ten were almost surely the same plates used to print book 13, but by 1866, the plates were showing signs of wear and a few of them were either repaired or redone, as the quality of the print had degenerated. Some of the letters (see plate 44 the "B" is a different shape, or the ending "e" in"prime" on plate 45--there are a number of examples) were either redone or another plate produced by a different lithographer for book 10 (hence the omission of Gerlach's name in book 10)
Also, a few guidelines not in book 13 seem to be added to book 10. The illustration of the hand showing the holding of the pen is different between books 10 and 13, so done by a different person.
Book 10 has an added plate after #54 which shows examples of ledger heading (shaded Spencerian), which I don't find in my copies of book 13, which might have been added to the book 10.
The differences in book 13 versus 10 are small, content wise--you could use either with great success as a learning tool. The most significant difference is in the printing. Book 13 is very fine throughout. Early copies of book 10 are less fine, and later copies of book 10 (like one of mine whose inscription dates it to 1881) are even less fine--thin shades disappearing, tiny loops being filled, broken hairlines, etc.
The bottom line is that either book is great for learning. Book 13 is better to see the best reproduction of the original work.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2019, 04:38:59 PM by AnasaziWrites »

Offline jccosta

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Re: Compendium of Semi Angular Penmanship Book 10 and Book 13
« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2019, 11:52:17 AM »
Hi,

Thank you very much for your thorough answer.
I have both of the books and hadn't had notice must of the differences you pointed (besides the numbers and the printing quality :-))!

Jonathas.