Secretary’s hand was a European script used from the 16th century, with many loops and strokes. It was replaced by cursive writing in the 17th century. It was developed for greater legibility and was used by professionals. It can be found on historical documents.
Secretary’s hand is a European type of script that has fallen out of use. It first appeared in Europe in the 16th century and was used frequently over the next 16+ years in various languages, such as German, English, and Gaelic. This particular style was developed as an alternative to the less legible bookhand, and was eventually replaced in most areas by cursive handwriting.
The forerunner of modern cursive writing, the secretary’s hand used many loops stylistically. Letters were thus generally joined together, rather than being separated, and strokes and slashes were also commonplace. For example, a slash placed at the beginning of a word was known as a lead stroke. Each letter also generally had a lowercase and uppercase form.
Some letters, such as s, resembled modern letters when handwritten as a secretary. Others, such as k, looked very different from their contemporary written representations. Also, some letters, such as tec, looked similar and were often confused with each other. Because words were often spelled based on how they sounded, standard spelling was not common, which also makes current secretary hand readings more difficult. Therefore, different writers may have spelled the same word with different letters in secretary style.
A style known as book hand preceded secretary hand and was perhaps the most common handwriting style used before the 16th century. This style resembled calligraphy in that the letters were fluid and malleable as they were written, often with dramatic flourishes. Because this form was highly stylized, the letters were often unreadable to the untrained eye.
Greater legibility became essential during this era because more individuals had become literate and written correspondences were starting to spread beyond local barriers. The book hand was deemed unsuitable for these purposes because it was difficult to read. As secretaries busied themselves with drafting clear correspondences, increasing numbers of individuals began to adopt their method of writing.
Most professionals eventually mastered the hand of the secretary, including historians, scholars, and other individuals who could read and write, or scribes. If an individual could read and handwrite as a secretary in these eras, he was likely to hold a job of a higher rank than the average person. Many remnants of the secretary’s hand can be found on historical official documents, such as wills and government papers.
This form of writing was replaced in the 17th century by cursive writing. This writing differs in that writers usually tilt the writing tool at a 17° angle and thus create a more curved writing. Modern cursive fonts were inspired by this style of writing. Scholars trace handwriting trends such as book hand, secretary hand, and cursive handwriting through paleography or the study of ancient writing.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
