The Zaner-Bloser Printing Blocks collection is arranged into five series:
Series 1: Blackboard Writing Manual Series 2: Shortcut to Plain Writing Manual Series 3: Method Writing Manual 96 Series 4: Illustration and Text Blocks Series 5: Penmanship Mailed Correspondence Courses
Accession No. RARE.2025.0173: Ohio State University Department of English, 2023
[identification of item], Zaner-Bloser Printing Blocks, SPEC.RARE.0362, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University
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Processed by: Casey Blackmore and Sierra McGee, 2025 December. Finding aid written by: Casey Blackmore and Sierra McGee, 2025 December.
As of 2025, Zaner-Bloser is a company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio that publishes handwriting, reading, writing and spelling books. In 1888, Charles Paxton Zaner founded The Zanerian Art College Company, which prepared students to write, draw, and teach in the penmanship industry. The Zanerian Art College became a leader in American penmanship by developing the Zaner-Bloser style of writing and teaching handwriting. Monthly periodicals pertaining to the penmanship industry were also published by the college. The Zaner-Bloser style was developed to help students transition easily from print writing to cursive. Learning penmanship was seen as a desirable skill because it was a strong indicator of being educated, literate, and belonging to a higher social class.
In 1891, Zaner’s friend, Elmer W. Bloser, purchased an interest in the company, and by 1896, the company’s name was Zaner & Bloser Company. Zaner died on December 1, 1918, after the car he was driving was struck by an oncoming train. After Zaner’s death, Bloser purchased the company’s remaining shares and continued to manage it until his death in 1929.
The Zaner-Bloser Printing Blocks, dated circa 1910s-circa 1920s, are 105 printing blocks of handwriting and penmanship manuals published by Zaner-Bloser. The handwriting manuals are
Series 1:
Series 1:
The preface to the the Blackboard Writing Manual states that in order to teach penmanship, the teacher must first learn how to write on a blackboard.
The block describes futher how learning to write script on a blackboard is the first step learning how to write well on paper. The page continues to outline how teachers of penmanship need to learn how to show students what to practice and how to practice.
This block illustrates the importance of practing writing on a blackboard.
The block describe how the teacher should erase the blackboard with the left hand and hold the chalk in the right. This will ensure that the writing is clear and can be easily viewed by the students.
The Position block illustrates how the teacher should physically stand at the board, at an arm's length which will allow the teacher to better view what is being written. Copy should be written above the head so that the whole class will be able to view the writing.
This block is a continuation of the Position block.
The block shows two images of the teacher writing at the board.
The block shows the teacher at the blackboard writing with a good hand position.
The block illustrates how the teacher should position the legs while standing at the board.
The block outlines the pros and cons of using chalk to write at the board or crayon. There are further instructions on how to used the chalk on the board so a dull line does not form.
The block illustrates how the teacher should begin the lesson by writing from the right side of the blackboard.
The next block follows up with how the teacher should move while at the board, by stretching to write higher up on the board or stooping to write lower on the board.
This block describes the arm movements involved with good blackboard writing techniques.
The block states that the size of writing should be large enough for all students to be able to view it on the board. The writing should look best from a distance.
The block describes that the writing on the board should not be too light to see or so heavy that the line becomes thick. The objective is to have writing that is practical, rather than aestheticly pleasing.
The block describes the object of ruled head and base lines is to enable students and teachers to write straight, and to show size and proportion of writing in reference to ruled lines on paper.
The block details how the real merit of blackboard writing is in showing students in a short time what and how to practice their writing.
The block details how the blackboard is the best means of showing the relation of exercises and principles to letters and words.
The block illustrates how chalk or a pen will better enable the teacher to show students how to write properly. While the pen is better suited for personal use and finer details, chalk is used for general writing. The second portion of this block covers how the student will improve with good blackboard writing teaching.
The block states that blackboard writing should be plain, neat, and well arranged; as those traits will become habits for the students in their own writing.
The block states that both the teacher and student will benefit from learning about good writing technique and that the teacher has a moral obligation to show students proper wriitng from a young age. The block further details how blackboard writing can be viewed as a fine art, in which techniques like ornamental writing or flourishes are in high demand.
The block shows how the angle of the chalk can dictate how thin or thick the line of writing will be on the board. The illustration on the block shows the various ways in which technique influences the quality of the line.
The block explains how roundhand writing or engrossing script can be used in ornamental writing. It's further detailed that roundhand writing is not meant for the blackboard as it can be time consuming to create and will be easily erased.
The text lettering block describes the technique of text lettering on a blackboard or on a piece of paper. Text lettering involves drawing letters, rather than scripting them.
Flourishing describes the art of adding ovals and long lines to script words.
Series 2:
Series 2:
Page two print block provides the context for the manual and that this is an instruction manual for adults to improve their writing, not for children just learning how to write. The page further explains that the fuction of writing is to present your ideas in writing in a straighforward way.
Page three describes the how script letters developed from Roman letters, which in turn were develped from hieroglyphics. The block also features examples of script writing.
Page four describes how letters that are written in script have some similarties with each other and differences between them. The qualities of that are found in both similarities and contrasts should be give attention when writing to ensure the work is legible.
Page five describes and illustrates what causes poor hand writing in small letters. Specific examples of are provided at the bottom of the page.
Page six describes and illustrates what causes poor hand writing in capitol letters. Specific examples of are provided at the bottom of the page.
Page seven describes when and where certain letters should be dotted or crossed. It further explains how large loop letters should be in order to be legible.
Page eight illustrates two examples of penmanship specimans that could use improvement in various areas.
Page nine is a continuation of the discussion of penmanship specimans and areas of improvement. Specimen C is badly formed as the size and spacing of letters is irregular. The rest of the block discusses how speciman D is a good example of penmanship.
Page ten discusses how finger movement and arm movement should work in tandem to create good penmanship.
Page eleven shows how movement exercises can be used to reduce uncontrolled writing. The block is illustrated with images of down strockes and ovals that are used to mimic how script is written.
Page twelve describes how writing that is beautiful is also uniform in its apperance.
Page thirteen provides to illustrated examples of poor, but legible, writing.
Page fourteen describes how sightlines are improtant in good penmanship. Figures, such as dollar signs and numbers, also need to be practiced on their own in order to be legible when written.
Page fifteen shows two illustrations of poor spacing between letters and writing that is too angular to read easily.
Page sixteen describes that personal style of writing should not be confused with good writing. The page provides examples of several different styles of writing that are all also examples of excellent penmanship.
Page seventeen details that good page writing hinges on how well the margins are made while writing. Unifrom paragraphs are also ideal for good page writing.
Page eighteen describes how certain technical aspects of writing seperates amature penmans from the professionals. Characteristics like uniform letters, similar widths and lengths when writing loops, and correct turns and angles are all hallmarks of professional writing.
Page nineteen shows five illustrations of letters
Page twenty contains five writing specimens focusing on how to properly space script letters and how to create the right height for capital letters.
Page twenty one contains two writing specimens that show common mistakes in professional writing such as sharp turned letters, irregular spacing, and uncontrolled loops.
Page twenty two describes how ornamental penmanship differs from professional writing.
Page twenty three contains advice for writing signatures that are legible, how to properly teach students to stand at a blackboard and how to teach left handed students proper writing technique.
Series 3:
Series 3:
Page two provides an overview of the what manual will cover and what skills are needed to be successful in the course.
Page three describes how a person should sit while at a desk to ensure they are in a good position to write well. The position of the body and the position of the arm will affect penmanship.
The block is a larger version of the page 3. Contents on block are the same.
Page four covers how the movemnet of the pencil should flow when writing on paper versus blackboard writing.
Page five describes the use of the arm instead of the fingers to move the pen in writing. The fingers are too short to move the pen far easily.
Page six covers how a student should practice their writing for at least fifteen mintues per day. The page later continues with how set up a writing practice and how to practice speed writing.
Page seven describes the importance of being sure in your work and writing technique. The section stresses the importance of improving these skills before writing can even begin.
Page eight contans an illustration of how to practice writing ovals. Arrows pointing to which direction the pen should go in creating an oval shape are shown in the image.
Page nine shows lesson 17 which covers how the lower case "a" should be written.
Page ten shows lesson nineteen shows how the upper case "O" letter should be written in script.
Page eleven shows illustrations for lessons twenty three and lesson twenty four for how write the lower case "i" letter and the lower case "u" letter respectively.
Page twelve contains the illustration for lesson 46 on how to write numbers.
Page thirteen shows lesson forty eight on how to write figures used in ledgers.
Page fourteen illustrates how to create capital stem letters such as the letter "f." Lesson ninety-five descibes how to old way of writing a stem letter was created, while lesson ninety-six describes the new way of scripting.
Page fifteen shows lesson one hundred and two which features an exercise in how to properly cross two t's with one pencil stroke.
Page sixteen shows lesson one hunded and ten which instructs students to write the word "quaker" as a way to practice letter spacing.
Page 17 is the title page for the next section in the manual that covers business writing. The section will discuss how to write receipts, checks, promissory notes, and drafts.
The drafts print block illustrates how a scripted draft page should look based on the manual writing methods.
The page nineteen receipts block shows how a receipt page should be written correctly in script.
Page twenty illustrates the correct script to use in writing a journal page.
The ledger block shows how to correctly write script for a ledger page, which contains how to correct script numbers as well.
Similar to the ledger page, the cash book example shows students how to correctly script letters and numbers.
Page twenty three shows a slightly different variation on how to correctly create a script cash book.
Page twenty four illustrates another variation on how to correctly create a script cash book.
Series 4: Illustration and Text Blocks contains print blocks from various manuals and instruction guides published by Zaner-Bloser. The majority of the blocks are incidental pages from manuals and do not contain full textbooks or guides. Illustration blocks in the series include proper arm placement and movement techniques, how to stand correctly at a blackboard, and penmanship examples. Items in this series do not have item level notes as the titles for each item are the descriptions of the content found on the blocks. Materials are dated circa 1910s-circa 1920s.
Series 4: Illustration and Text Blocks are arranged alphabetically by title of the illustration on the block or first line of text on block.
Series 5: Penmanship Mailed Correspondence Courses contains printed materials created for handwriting instruction booklets and correspondence courses. Items in this series do not have item level notes as the titles for each item are the descriptions of the content found on the blocks. Materials are dated circa 1911-1920s.
Series 5: Penmanship Mailed Correspondence Courses is arranged chronologically with materials with the same date further arranged alphabetically by title.