George Bickham

Excise: Letterpress sample with the British crown and a cornucopia.

George Bickham, the Elder, established himself in London as a writer of copy books and business texts and became the most celebrated ‘penman’ of his time. From 1733 until 1741 Bickham published The Universal Penman in collaboration with his son George the younger with contributions from some of London’s finest writing masters with each broadsheet focusing on a different art, profession, emotion, or human moral. Broadsides were initially single sheets of printed paper posted up in public places to spread official notices and royal proclamations. Later, they also came to be used for advertising and political agitation. Bickham added vignettes to his text to highlight the quality of engraving.

Since the Renaissance, handwriting styles had increasingly moved towards a more open and lighter style. In France, by the mid-17th century, legal documents were restricted to three ‘hands’, one of which, the Rhonde, was then picked up in England. This style was further refined until it developed into the 'English round hand', a script which grew in popularity in the 18th century through masters like Bickham, but also John Ayers and Charles Snell who were contributors to The Penman.

Bickham’s main purpose was to teach legible and confident penmanship to young men to equip them for professional life. The commercial growth of London led to demand for teams of copyists for contracts and other legal documents. By the end of the 18th century, letter copying machines began to replace manual copyists, although good penmanship was still valued.