This work chronicles the history of the Golden Age of American penmanship and calligraphy. The author guides the reader through the lives and careers of some of the most important American penmen, including Platt Rogers Spencer, the Father of American Handwriting, and Spencer's gifted student, George A. Gaskell, whose books and periodicals reached hundreds of thousands of students throughout the second half of the 1800s. Paul Melzer, the editor of this work, added more than 400 examples taken from original specimens to handsomely illustrate Henning's manuscript.