There was a time, not so long ago, when "a good hand" was as important to one's success in business as honesty and a firm handshake. In fact, so important was penmanship to certain types of commercial success that it was taught as a skill to adults centuries before it became a commonplace of instruction in public schools.
Printed copybooks -- which adult students used to imitate the pen strokes of so-called writing masters -- are known as early as the 16th century (thanks to the advent of copperplate engraving). The Graphic Arts Collection at Princeton University has a well-regarded collection of many of these books, which they have featured in not a few posts to their excellent blog. One such is this ca. 1670 title published by Louis Senault:
Another such is this even earlier (1609) manual published by Jan van den Velde I:
Actually, as the good folks at Princeton point out,
[f]rom the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, two types of writing books predominated in Europe: the writing manual to offer instruction in how to make, space, and join letters as well as how to choose paper, cut quills, and make ink; and the copybook with engraved plates of writing models to be copied.
The volume noted above is both.
Such early books are both rare and expensive. Collectors interested in adding penmanship titles to their bookshelves are much more likely to focus on the many copybooks that were produced during the late 19th-early 20th century. Among the best known and most collectible of these are those produced by Platt Rogers Spencer...
...Austin Norman Palmer...
...and C. P. Zaner:
A number of excellent histories and bibliographies of this subject are readily available in the marketplace, such as these...
...and these:
Folks interested in exploring this topic in greater detail will want to visit the website of IAMPETH (The International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting). This site offers collectors opportunities to peruse some very rare copybooks in their entirety....
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