Copybook (education)

A '''copybook''', or '''copy book''' is a book used in education that contains examples of [[handwriting]] and blank space for learners to [[imitation|imitate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/copybook|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329142034/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/copybook|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 29, 2017|title=Definition of copybook in English|publisher=Oxford University Press|accessdate=28 March 2017}}</ref>

A '''copybook''', or '''copy book''' is a book used in education that contains examples of [[handwriting]] and blank space for learners to [[imitation|imitate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/copybook|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329142034/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/copybook|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 29, 2017|title=Definition of copybook in English|publisher=Oxford University Press|accessdate=28 March 2017}}</ref>

Typical uses include teaching [[penmanship]] and [[arithmetic]] to students. A page of a copybook typically starts with a copybook heading: a printed example of what should be copied, such as a single [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] or a short [[proverb]]. The rest of the page is empty, except for horizontal rulings. The student is expected to copy the example repeatedly down the page. By copying, the student is supposed to practise penmanship, [[spelling]], [[reading comprehension]], [[punctuation]], and [[vocabulary]].

Typical uses include teaching [[penmanship]] and [[arithmetic]] to students. A page of a copybook typically starts with a copybook heading: a printed example of what should be copied, such as a single [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] or a short [[proverb]]. The remainder of the page is blank, aside from horizontal lines. The student is expected to copy the example repeatedly down the page. By copying, the student is supposed to practise penmanship, [[spelling]], [[reading comprehension]], [[punctuation]], and [[vocabulary]].

==History==

==History==

''The American Instructor: Or, Young Man's Best Companion'', published in 1748, was the first American copybook.<ref>Tamara Plakins Thornton, "Handwriting in America: A cultural history." Page 12.[https://books.google.com/books?id=g5cHxU9EXjkC]</ref> The 1802 book ''The Port folio'' recommends the copybook method of learning fine penmanship over the previously used method of "engraved models", citing the advantage of having the example text closer to the student's reproduction. The author adds, "A neat copybook has often laid the foundation, or shown the first symptoms, of taste in all the elegant arts of life."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nq4RAAAAYAAJ Joseph Dennie, Asbury Dickens, "The Port folio", 1802. Page 303]</ref>

''The American Instructor: Or, Young Man's Best Companion'', published in 1748, was the first American copybook.<ref>Tamara Plakins Thornton, "Handwriting in America: A cultural history." Page 12.[https://books.google.com/books?id=g5cHxU9EXjkC]</ref> The 1802 book ''The Port Folio'' advocates for the copybook method of learning fine penmanship, favoring it over the earlier practice of using "engraved models", citing the advantage of having the example text closer to the student's reproduction. The author adds, "A neat copybook has often laid the foundation, or shown the first symptoms, of taste in all the elegant arts of life."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nq4RAAAAYAAJ Joseph Dennie, Asbury Dickens, "The Port folio", 1802. Page 303]</ref>

==Uses==

==Uses==

Because in the 18th century good penmanship was primarily considered an important business skill, copybooks of the period frequently were oriented towards [[autodidact]]s wishing to learn business skills, and therefore included chapters on general business management as well as lessons in accounting.<ref>Tamara Plakins Thornton, "Handwriting in America: A cultural history." Page 12.[https://books.google.com/books?id=g5cHxU9EXjkC]</ref> Other copybooks, however, focused chiefly on writing and literacy, using [[maxim (philosophy)|maxim]]s and sometimes [[Bible]] verses as their material. It was intended that students memorize not only correct penmanship, but correct morals as well, through exposure to traditional sayings.

Because in the 18th century good penmanship was primarily considered an important business skill, copybooks of the period frequently were oriented towards [[autodidact]]s wishing to learn business skills, and therefore included chapters on general business management as well as lessons in accounting.<ref>Tamara Plakins Thornton, "Handwriting in America: A cultural history." Page 12.[https://books.google.com/books?id=g5cHxU9EXjkC]</ref> Other copybooks, however, focused chiefly on writing and literacy, using [[maxim (philosophy)|maxim]]s and sometimes [[Bible]] verses as their material. It was intended that students memorize not only correct penmanship, but correct morals as well, through exposure to traditional sayings.

Copybooks were also published on geographical subjects, the student being asked first to copy names onto an unlabelled map, and later to reproduce whole maps onto a latitude/longitude grid.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SCuIupZ3pxAC |title=American Annals of Education |last2=Woodbridge |first2=William Channing |last3=Hubbard |first3=Fordyce Mitchell |date=1833 |publisher=Otis, Broaders |language=en}}</ref>

Copybooks were also produced on geographical topics, initially requiring students to copy place names onto unlabelled maps, and later to recreate entire maps using a latitude and longitude grid.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SCuIupZ3pxAC |title=American Annals of Education |last2=Woodbridge |first2=William Channing |last3=Hubbard |first3=Fordyce Mitchell |date=1833 |publisher=Otis, Broaders |language=en}}</ref>

There are also botanical copybooks such as ''[[Studies of Flowers from Nature]]'' that were popular in the 19th century for developing watercolor painting skills. Here the student would paint an image for which the outline was already sketched (as in a modern coloring book), using as a model a finished watercolor provided by the book's illustrator.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110509100010/http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/rarebooks/flowers.html "Featured Book Archive: Miss Smith"]. University of Cambridge Library website.</ref>

There are also botanical copybooks, such as ''[[Studies of Flowers from Nature|Studies of Flowers from Nature,]]'' that were popular in the 19th century for developing watercolor painting skills. Here, the student would paint an image for which the outline was already sketched (as in a modern coloring book), using as a model a finished watercolor provided by the book's illustrator.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110509100010/http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/rarebooks/flowers.html "Featured Book Archive: Miss Smith"]. University of Cambridge Library website.</ref>

==See also==

==See also==