As a young man, in the 1950's and 60's, I studied a system of
shorthand that used mainly longhand letters, together with a few
symbols. I believe it was called Speedhand and that it was invented by
someone in Cambridge, England. I want to search for out-of-print books
to refresh my skills. Can you please identify the author and the
correct title?

Greetings! I began by seeing if the famed Evelyn Wood of Speedreading
had also developed a speedwriting course.  She didn't, but I found a
course on Speedwriting which was formulated by Emma Dearborn in 1924
and later revised by Leon Sheff in 1950.  I also discovered a method
called Quickhand which does offer a book.

"IV. Speedwriting Shorthand

"Of various shorthand systems using longhand letters, the best known
is Speedwriting Shorthand, formulated in 1924 by the American educator
Emma Dearborn and revised in 1950 by the American educator Leon Sheff.
In this system, sounds and words are represented by longhand letters
(sometimes modified) and punctuation marks; capital C, for example,
means the sound ch. No unfamiliar symbols must be learned, and the
system can be mastered at office speeds of about 120 words per min in
about six weeks. It is now taught in the Americas, the United Kingdom,
Australia, and elsewhere."

(from "Shorthand," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved)

In other forms of shorthand using actual letters, there are
Stenoscript, Forkner, AlphaHand and Teeline.  "While Teeline is based
on alphabetic characters, it appears to be much more like a symbol
system since so little of each letter is written.  The Teeline system
is popular in Great Britan."

Additionally, I found references to these methods:

"Systems developed in the 20c use longhand symbols for most or all
letters, and include: Baine's Typed Shorthand (1917), Speedwriting
(1923, 1951), HySpeed Longhand (1932), Abbreviatrix (1945), Quickhand
(1953), Stenoscript (1955), and Carter Briefhand (1957)."

The coursebook for Quickhand may be found at Amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471328871/qid%3D1033055927/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-0724305-7769563

Regarding the reference below from bathplug-ga, here is a sample
course lesson from that site: http://www.speedwriting.co.uk/sample.htm

It's amazing to me how many shorthand methods exist since I only knew
of Gregg Shorthand prior to your question.  I thank you for
enlightening my knowledge and should you need a clarification, please
ask.


SEARCH TERMS and LINKS:

evelyn wood speedwriting course  [Google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=evelyn+wood+speedwriting+course&spell=1

US Catalog of Copyright Entries (Renewals) - 1925 Books: SZ
(Speedwriting listed as copyrighted by Emma Dearborn)
http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/ccer/1925a4.htm


Emma Dearborn speedwriting  [Google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Emma+Dearborn+speedwriting

Shorthand (a history)
http://psych.colorado.edu/~blackmon/E64ContentFiles/LinguisticsAndLanguages/Shorthand.html


shorthand speedwriting  [Google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=shorthand+speedwriting

Shorthand Systems
http://www.geocities.com/shorthandshorthandshorthand/Shorthand_Systems.htm


speedhand shorthand  {google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=speedhand+shorthand

Xrefer listing of shorthand
http://www.xrefer.com/entry/443957

Shorthand (from Xrefer.com)
http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=443828


Quickhand shorthand  [Google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Quickhand+shorthand

Quickhand course book
http://www.josseybass.com/cda/product/0,,0471328871%7Cdesc%7C2493,00.html

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 26 Sep 2002 09:07 PDT

PS Additional books on speedwriting are available from Amazon.com at
the following link:

Speedwriting books
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-0724305-7769563

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 29 Sep 2002 12:02 PDT

Greetings again.  To receive the most from your next Google Answers
experience, you may want to consider including in your question the
web sites you have already visited so that the researcher will not
repeat your search efforts. I'm sure it was frustrating for you to
view sites you had already checked.

Also, please consider utilizing the Clarification option offered for
customers to Google Answers before you rate a researcher as this gives
the researcher an opportunity to expand the scope of a search.

My question elicited only a few responses and they all mention similar
or parallel systems. However, I am trying to trace a specific system
called SPEEDHAND. I want to refresh my knowledge, not learn a new
system. The books I had were published in Cambridge, in the UK,
possibly in the 50's. I have done much searching myself and already
found most of the information that researchers have ovvered. Can
anyone check old business directories or phone books? Please think of
something for me.

A well-meant answer but I had also found these references myself.

I remember the adverts on London Underground for Speedwriting: "Gt a
gd jb  & mo pay"

Can't remember who taught it then, but you could start at
www.speedwriting.co.uk who use the same byline (in plain English this
time)

Amazon still offer at least one book. Try:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0026851555/ref=sr_aps_books_1_3/202-6834909-8835812

I (briefly) studied a thing called "Pitmanscript" in the 1970s. Is
this what you're looking for? Amazon offers a number of publications
on a search for this keyword.

I researched speed writing systems about one year ago.  I concluded
that EasyScript/ComputerScript is the best from the standpoint of
being fast, easy to learn, easy to read, and readily available.  I
taught myself in no time at all.  Even those who do not know the
system can read it fairly well!  A computer program is available to
translate EasyScript into plain english within a word processor, so
you can speed up note taking and word processing at the same time!

Visit the EasyScript web site at http://www.easyscript.com

There are several pages that explain the system, and show examples.  A
lot of learning aids are available, but it is so easy to learn that I
suggest you learn it from the patents.

The two patents are:

 4,760,528 Method for entering text using abbreviated word forms 
 4,969,097 Method of rapid entering of text into computer equipment 

To find them, go to http://www.uspto.gov and search for them by
number.

I have a one-page summary of the patent that I have been meaning to
post on the Internet.  I'll leave a comment here when I have gotten it
posted.

If you want the book, I suggest you go to http://www.bookspot.com and
check the used book and textbook metasearches (see links at the lower
left) for a good deal.  I suggest starting with only the least
expensive book you can find, and don't buy tapes, etc. until you find
the book is not enough.

EasyScript is so easy that you should be able to learn from just the
patents.

Dear Dr. MPWalker:

Another thing that may make your Google Answers experience more
rewarding is to clarify your original question from "I believe it was
called Speedhand" to what you stated in your reason for rejection "I
am trying to trace a specific system
called SPEEDHAND"  This way, a new researcher will be fully
enlightened.

The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992) lists Speedhand as
a synonym for shorthand.  http://www.xrefer.com/entry/443957
The entry for Shorthand mentions a system called Quickhand, which was
developed in 1953 http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=443828
Searches on Quickhand only turned up references to a book published in
1976:
http://www.pfeiffer.com/cda/product/0,,0471328871%7Cdesc%7C2493,00.html
Not sure if this is of relevance to your query.