{"product_id":"the-missing-ink-the-lost-art-of-handwriting","title":"The Missing Ink: The Lost Art of Handwriting","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Philip Hensher realized that he didnt know what a close friends handwriting looked like (\"bold or crabbed  sloping or upright  italic or rounded  elegant or slapdash\")  he felt that something essential was missing from their friendship. It dawned on him that having abandoned pen and paper for keyboards  we have lost one of the ways by which we come to recognize and know another person. People have written by hand for thousands of years how  Hensher wondered  have they learned this skill  and what part has it played in their lives? The Missing Ink tells the story of this endangered art. Hensher introduces us to the nineteenth-century handwriting evangelists who traveled across America to convert the masses to the moral worth of copperplate script; he examines the role handwriting plays in the novels of Charles Dickens; he investigates the claims made by the practitioners of graphology that penmanship can reveal personality. But this is also a celebration of the physical act of writing: the treasured fountain pens  chewable ballpoints  and personal embellishments that we stand to lose. Hensher pays tribute to the warmth and personality of the handwritten love note  postcards sent home  and daily diary entries. With the teaching of handwriting now required in only five states and many expert typists barely able to hold a pen  the future of handwriting is in jeopardy. Or is it? Hugely entertaining  witty  and thought-provoking  The Missing Ink will inspire readers to pick up a pen and write.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44945784995893,"sku":"ByrdShop_0865478937","price":26.84,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780865478930_4da7f063-3b99-400f-ada5-077bc3c9f90c.jpg?v=1771018421","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-missing-ink-the-lost-art-of-handwriting","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}