In the Matthew Macfadyen / Keira Knightley 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice, there's a scene where Mr. Darcy is writing a letter, despite Miss Bingley's determination he shall pay attention to her instead. It reads, in part:
Elizabeth took up some needlework, and was sufficiently amused in attending to what passed between Darcy and his companion. The perpetual commendations of the lady either on his hand-writing, or on the evenness of his lines, or on the length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was exactly in unison with her opinion of each.
"How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!"
He made no answer.
"You write uncommonly fast."
"You are mistaken. I write rather slowly."
"How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of the year! Letters of business too! How odious I should think them!"
"It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of to yours."
In that sc
e
ne, we see Mr. Darcy writing his letter using a "writing slope''. Go ahead. Rent the film and see.
This 'writing slope' is a wood box with an angled surface, elevated a couple inches above the desk or table, slanted and padded with felt or leather. See the folks at the left using these. The man in the wig is Samuel Johnson.
This writing slope might be a heavy object, made for use in the comfort of the library or study. It might stay at home, perfectly content, and never go adventuring. Or the writing slant might lead a very exciting life indeed …
Toward the end of the Eighteenth Century, the writing slope shrank in size, sprouted handles, and transformed itself into a sort of traveling desk. 
It was now both a a writing surface and a sturdy wood box for transporting and storing the impedimenta. Like the stay-at-home writing slopes, these traveling desks or 'lap desks' were angled to provide that optimal slanted writing experience.
That writing desk on the far right, by the way, is said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson.
The lap desk was hinged in the middle and opened to reveal the felted or leather writing surface. Underneath each half were compartments for storing writing paper and letters half completed. Maybe there'd be a slim drawer at the end, especially in the early examples. In any case, you'd have your ingenious cubbies to hold ink bottles and quill pens, sealing wax, silver sand, blotters, penwipes and so on. Some of the most elaborate lap desks had sneaky little compartments lurking behind the drawers or opening with clever, secret levers and slides.
A man's penmanship is an unfailing index of his character, moral and mental, and a criterion by which to judge his peculiarities of taste and sentiments.
Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield
This sturdy, portable writing desk was the computer laptap of the Regency, encouraging literacy and correspondence on shipboard and battlefield, at any stray country inn or during the occasional stint in prison.
From the name 'lap desk' you'd think you could use them in your lap. But they folded in the middle, you see, so I feel a certain skepticism. On the other hand, computer laptops aren't used in laps either, most generally, so it is a lesson not to be so literal.
Seeing Mr. Darcy engage in writing on his writing slope sent me to hauling out a lap desk that belonged to my grandfather. It's about a century old, I would think, and an inexpe nsive example of the
breed. The felted writing surface is worn and torn. Some of the wood's stained. But it got a lot of use, writing letters home.
This one for instance, on the left. I like to think it was written using that writing desk.
Looking at all this collection of images across the centuries, I spent a while considering why folks liked to write at a slant, did it for so long, and then just seemed to lose the desire. Slanted writing surfaces seem to peter out in the Twentieth Century.
In what was a flash of insight for me, but may be obvious to everybody else, I decided ink flows more easily if the downward stroke is laid across paper at a slant. On flat paper the writing is more likely to pool and blot when the ink flows with unruly haste.
When we gave up quill pens and fountain pens, we also gave up the leisurely application of pen to gracefully slanted paper.
… the beauty and nobility, the august mission and destiny, of human handwriting.
George Bernard Shaw
I see artists working on a huge slanted surface. Anybody here use a slant for writing or drawing? For calligraphy?
Since I do an unseemly number of things I should be doing at a desk lying in bed, I end up doing them all at a slant. This is unintentional, though, and when I have something that needs to be done well and quickly, then a flat desk it is. The only writing implements I usually use are pencils and ball point pens, though, do potentially a could be writing on the ceiling and there would be no ink flow to affect.
Since I do an unseemly number of things I should be doing at a desk lying in bed, I end up doing them all at a slant. This is unintentional, though, and when I have something that needs to be done well and quickly, then a flat desk it is. The only writing implements I usually use are pencils and ball point pens, though, do potentially a could be writing on the ceiling and there would be no ink flow to affect.
Since I do an unseemly number of things I should be doing at a desk lying in bed, I end up doing them all at a slant. This is unintentional, though, and when I have something that needs to be done well and quickly, then a flat desk it is. The only writing implements I usually use are pencils and ball point pens, though, do potentially a could be writing on the ceiling and there would be no ink flow to affect.
Since I do an unseemly number of things I should be doing at a desk lying in bed, I end up doing them all at a slant. This is unintentional, though, and when I have something that needs to be done well and quickly, then a flat desk it is. The only writing implements I usually use are pencils and ball point pens, though, do potentially a could be writing on the ceiling and there would be no ink flow to affect.
Since I do an unseemly number of things I should be doing at a desk lying in bed, I end up doing them all at a slant. This is unintentional, though, and when I have something that needs to be done well and quickly, then a flat desk it is. The only writing implements I usually use are pencils and ball point pens, though, do potentially a could be writing on the ceiling and there would be no ink flow to affect.
I remember seeing one of Thomas Jeffersons when we visited Montechello. It was lovely. Thank you for your post.
I remember seeing one of Thomas Jeffersons when we visited Montechello. It was lovely. Thank you for your post.
I remember seeing one of Thomas Jeffersons when we visited Montechello. It was lovely. Thank you for your post.
I remember seeing one of Thomas Jeffersons when we visited Montechello. It was lovely. Thank you for your post.
I remember seeing one of Thomas Jeffersons when we visited Montechello. It was lovely. Thank you for your post.
Hi Ella —
TJ had so many curious, intricate objects. It seems inevitable he would have the ‘Mac’ of writing desks.
Hi Ella —
TJ had so many curious, intricate objects. It seems inevitable he would have the ‘Mac’ of writing desks.
Hi Ella —
TJ had so many curious, intricate objects. It seems inevitable he would have the ‘Mac’ of writing desks.
Hi Ella —
TJ had so many curious, intricate objects. It seems inevitable he would have the ‘Mac’ of writing desks.
Hi Ella —
TJ had so many curious, intricate objects. It seems inevitable he would have the ‘Mac’ of writing desks.
Hi Margot —
I too like to move around and work away from the desk. If I don’t move around freely and rearrange the old bones and muscles, I get stiff.
The squishyness of working in my lap would be a problem doing art. I think about the electronic drawing pads that attach to computers. They seem to be used on flat surfaces. Something to do with maintaining even pressure on the screen, maybe.
Hi Margot —
I too like to move around and work away from the desk. If I don’t move around freely and rearrange the old bones and muscles, I get stiff.
The squishyness of working in my lap would be a problem doing art. I think about the electronic drawing pads that attach to computers. They seem to be used on flat surfaces. Something to do with maintaining even pressure on the screen, maybe.
Hi Margot —
I too like to move around and work away from the desk. If I don’t move around freely and rearrange the old bones and muscles, I get stiff.
The squishyness of working in my lap would be a problem doing art. I think about the electronic drawing pads that attach to computers. They seem to be used on flat surfaces. Something to do with maintaining even pressure on the screen, maybe.
Hi Margot —
I too like to move around and work away from the desk. If I don’t move around freely and rearrange the old bones and muscles, I get stiff.
The squishyness of working in my lap would be a problem doing art. I think about the electronic drawing pads that attach to computers. They seem to be used on flat surfaces. Something to do with maintaining even pressure on the screen, maybe.
Hi Margot —
I too like to move around and work away from the desk. If I don’t move around freely and rearrange the old bones and muscles, I get stiff.
The squishyness of working in my lap would be a problem doing art. I think about the electronic drawing pads that attach to computers. They seem to be used on flat surfaces. Something to do with maintaining even pressure on the screen, maybe.
If I remember rightly, the desks in the grade school I attended were at a slope…with a small flat area at the top for the ink well. High School had the combination seat and “desk” arm which was flat.
If I remember rightly, the desks in the grade school I attended were at a slope…with a small flat area at the top for the ink well. High School had the combination seat and “desk” arm which was flat.
If I remember rightly, the desks in the grade school I attended were at a slope…with a small flat area at the top for the ink well. High School had the combination seat and “desk” arm which was flat.
If I remember rightly, the desks in the grade school I attended were at a slope…with a small flat area at the top for the ink well. High School had the combination seat and “desk” arm which was flat.
If I remember rightly, the desks in the grade school I attended were at a slope…with a small flat area at the top for the ink well. High School had the combination seat and “desk” arm which was flat.
Joanna-
As long as you have a sketch pad, then drawing on your lap isn’t too hard. Tablets, though, are definitely much easier to use on a flat surface. I think that since you’re looking at the screen, not the tablet, it needs to be flat so you know where your hand is and can get the pressure to be how you want.
Joanna-
As long as you have a sketch pad, then drawing on your lap isn’t too hard. Tablets, though, are definitely much easier to use on a flat surface. I think that since you’re looking at the screen, not the tablet, it needs to be flat so you know where your hand is and can get the pressure to be how you want.
Joanna-
As long as you have a sketch pad, then drawing on your lap isn’t too hard. Tablets, though, are definitely much easier to use on a flat surface. I think that since you’re looking at the screen, not the tablet, it needs to be flat so you know where your hand is and can get the pressure to be how you want.
Joanna-
As long as you have a sketch pad, then drawing on your lap isn’t too hard. Tablets, though, are definitely much easier to use on a flat surface. I think that since you’re looking at the screen, not the tablet, it needs to be flat so you know where your hand is and can get the pressure to be how you want.
Joanna-
As long as you have a sketch pad, then drawing on your lap isn’t too hard. Tablets, though, are definitely much easier to use on a flat surface. I think that since you’re looking at the screen, not the tablet, it needs to be flat so you know where your hand is and can get the pressure to be how you want.
Great post, Joanna. I remember when I was a young girl reading how some regency person “ran to fetch her writing desk”, and I knew it couldn’t be the kind of writing desk I’d imagined, with 4 legs and a drawer or six. Since I first discovered what they were, I wanted one, as I love writing letters.
We have my grandfather’s “writing box” which is very much like yours, and I was once given a red leather “writing case” from Florence which is a lighter more modern version, though still with a leather bound blotting pad, and I love it and use it to this day.
But I’m more likely these days to sit in bed with my laptop or diary resting on a pillow and a balsa-wood tray that lives beside the bed for that purpose.
Great post, Joanna. I remember when I was a young girl reading how some regency person “ran to fetch her writing desk”, and I knew it couldn’t be the kind of writing desk I’d imagined, with 4 legs and a drawer or six. Since I first discovered what they were, I wanted one, as I love writing letters.
We have my grandfather’s “writing box” which is very much like yours, and I was once given a red leather “writing case” from Florence which is a lighter more modern version, though still with a leather bound blotting pad, and I love it and use it to this day.
But I’m more likely these days to sit in bed with my laptop or diary resting on a pillow and a balsa-wood tray that lives beside the bed for that purpose.
Great post, Joanna. I remember when I was a young girl reading how some regency person “ran to fetch her writing desk”, and I knew it couldn’t be the kind of writing desk I’d imagined, with 4 legs and a drawer or six. Since I first discovered what they were, I wanted one, as I love writing letters.
We have my grandfather’s “writing box” which is very much like yours, and I was once given a red leather “writing case” from Florence which is a lighter more modern version, though still with a leather bound blotting pad, and I love it and use it to this day.
But I’m more likely these days to sit in bed with my laptop or diary resting on a pillow and a balsa-wood tray that lives beside the bed for that purpose.
Great post, Joanna. I remember when I was a young girl reading how some regency person “ran to fetch her writing desk”, and I knew it couldn’t be the kind of writing desk I’d imagined, with 4 legs and a drawer or six. Since I first discovered what they were, I wanted one, as I love writing letters.
We have my grandfather’s “writing box” which is very much like yours, and I was once given a red leather “writing case” from Florence which is a lighter more modern version, though still with a leather bound blotting pad, and I love it and use it to this day.
But I’m more likely these days to sit in bed with my laptop or diary resting on a pillow and a balsa-wood tray that lives beside the bed for that purpose.
Great post, Joanna. I remember when I was a young girl reading how some regency person “ran to fetch her writing desk”, and I knew it couldn’t be the kind of writing desk I’d imagined, with 4 legs and a drawer or six. Since I first discovered what they were, I wanted one, as I love writing letters.
We have my grandfather’s “writing box” which is very much like yours, and I was once given a red leather “writing case” from Florence which is a lighter more modern version, though still with a leather bound blotting pad, and I love it and use it to this day.
But I’m more likely these days to sit in bed with my laptop or diary resting on a pillow and a balsa-wood tray that lives beside the bed for that purpose.
Oh you’re so lucky! I wish I had an old writing desk. Though I’d be afraid of cat scratches…
Oh you’re so lucky! I wish I had an old writing desk. Though I’d be afraid of cat scratches…
Oh you’re so lucky! I wish I had an old writing desk. Though I’d be afraid of cat scratches…
Oh you’re so lucky! I wish I had an old writing desk. Though I’d be afraid of cat scratches…
Oh you’re so lucky! I wish I had an old writing desk. Though I’d be afraid of cat scratches…
Hi Deniz —
The cat shows no interest in this old box. This leads me to believe my grandfolks didn’t have pets themselves. I seem to remember .. maybe they had a scotty dog when my mother was young.
Hi Deniz —
The cat shows no interest in this old box. This leads me to believe my grandfolks didn’t have pets themselves. I seem to remember .. maybe they had a scotty dog when my mother was young.
Hi Deniz —
The cat shows no interest in this old box. This leads me to believe my grandfolks didn’t have pets themselves. I seem to remember .. maybe they had a scotty dog when my mother was young.
Hi Deniz —
The cat shows no interest in this old box. This leads me to believe my grandfolks didn’t have pets themselves. I seem to remember .. maybe they had a scotty dog when my mother was young.
Hi Deniz —
The cat shows no interest in this old box. This leads me to believe my grandfolks didn’t have pets themselves. I seem to remember .. maybe they had a scotty dog when my mother was young.
Hi Anne–
I envy you using something like this. It’s a real link to history. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter with, y’know, pen and paper. And a stamp.
Lordy. I’ve become … Twenty-first Century.
Hi Anne–
I envy you using something like this. It’s a real link to history. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter with, y’know, pen and paper. And a stamp.
Lordy. I’ve become … Twenty-first Century.
Hi Anne–
I envy you using something like this. It’s a real link to history. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter with, y’know, pen and paper. And a stamp.
Lordy. I’ve become … Twenty-first Century.
Hi Anne–
I envy you using something like this. It’s a real link to history. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter with, y’know, pen and paper. And a stamp.
Lordy. I’ve become … Twenty-first Century.
Hi Anne–
I envy you using something like this. It’s a real link to history. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter with, y’know, pen and paper. And a stamp.
Lordy. I’ve become … Twenty-first Century.
Louis, I too had a desk in grammar school with a slanted surface and a flat piece at the top for an ink well and a hollow for pens and pencils. There was no ink in the inkwell, of course. We had to bring out own bottle. We did , however, have to learn how to write with a pen that you dipped in the ink. The rest of the world was writing with ball points or, for the old fashioned, fountain pens.
I must confess to a lingering fondness for fountain pens.
Not long ago, I needed to write an actual sympathy letter and needed plain stationery, nothing “cute.” Have you any idea how hard it is to find plain stationery? In my neighborhood, you have to find it on the Internet and have it shipped.
I can’t imagine what my teachers in P.S. 69 would have said.
Louis, I too had a desk in grammar school with a slanted surface and a flat piece at the top for an ink well and a hollow for pens and pencils. There was no ink in the inkwell, of course. We had to bring out own bottle. We did , however, have to learn how to write with a pen that you dipped in the ink. The rest of the world was writing with ball points or, for the old fashioned, fountain pens.
I must confess to a lingering fondness for fountain pens.
Not long ago, I needed to write an actual sympathy letter and needed plain stationery, nothing “cute.” Have you any idea how hard it is to find plain stationery? In my neighborhood, you have to find it on the Internet and have it shipped.
I can’t imagine what my teachers in P.S. 69 would have said.
Louis, I too had a desk in grammar school with a slanted surface and a flat piece at the top for an ink well and a hollow for pens and pencils. There was no ink in the inkwell, of course. We had to bring out own bottle. We did , however, have to learn how to write with a pen that you dipped in the ink. The rest of the world was writing with ball points or, for the old fashioned, fountain pens.
I must confess to a lingering fondness for fountain pens.
Not long ago, I needed to write an actual sympathy letter and needed plain stationery, nothing “cute.” Have you any idea how hard it is to find plain stationery? In my neighborhood, you have to find it on the Internet and have it shipped.
I can’t imagine what my teachers in P.S. 69 would have said.
Louis, I too had a desk in grammar school with a slanted surface and a flat piece at the top for an ink well and a hollow for pens and pencils. There was no ink in the inkwell, of course. We had to bring out own bottle. We did , however, have to learn how to write with a pen that you dipped in the ink. The rest of the world was writing with ball points or, for the old fashioned, fountain pens.
I must confess to a lingering fondness for fountain pens.
Not long ago, I needed to write an actual sympathy letter and needed plain stationery, nothing “cute.” Have you any idea how hard it is to find plain stationery? In my neighborhood, you have to find it on the Internet and have it shipped.
I can’t imagine what my teachers in P.S. 69 would have said.
Louis, I too had a desk in grammar school with a slanted surface and a flat piece at the top for an ink well and a hollow for pens and pencils. There was no ink in the inkwell, of course. We had to bring out own bottle. We did , however, have to learn how to write with a pen that you dipped in the ink. The rest of the world was writing with ball points or, for the old fashioned, fountain pens.
I must confess to a lingering fondness for fountain pens.
Not long ago, I needed to write an actual sympathy letter and needed plain stationery, nothing “cute.” Have you any idea how hard it is to find plain stationery? In my neighborhood, you have to find it on the Internet and have it shipped.
I can’t imagine what my teachers in P.S. 69 would have said.
I had an old wooden board that I would prop up onto a slant when doing calligraphy. I also used to write with fountain pens. My Oma would send them and the ink to me from Germany. They wrote like a dream.
I had an old wooden board that I would prop up onto a slant when doing calligraphy. I also used to write with fountain pens. My Oma would send them and the ink to me from Germany. They wrote like a dream.
I had an old wooden board that I would prop up onto a slant when doing calligraphy. I also used to write with fountain pens. My Oma would send them and the ink to me from Germany. They wrote like a dream.
I had an old wooden board that I would prop up onto a slant when doing calligraphy. I also used to write with fountain pens. My Oma would send them and the ink to me from Germany. They wrote like a dream.
I had an old wooden board that I would prop up onto a slant when doing calligraphy. I also used to write with fountain pens. My Oma would send them and the ink to me from Germany. They wrote like a dream.
Hi Margot —
I think you’ve pinned down the situation with drawing tablets. I’ve very seldom used one of these electronic pads myself. It looks like magic. Wonderful stuff.
Hi Margot —
I think you’ve pinned down the situation with drawing tablets. I’ve very seldom used one of these electronic pads myself. It looks like magic. Wonderful stuff.
Hi Margot —
I think you’ve pinned down the situation with drawing tablets. I’ve very seldom used one of these electronic pads myself. It looks like magic. Wonderful stuff.
Hi Margot —
I think you’ve pinned down the situation with drawing tablets. I’ve very seldom used one of these electronic pads myself. It looks like magic. Wonderful stuff.
Hi Margot —
I think you’ve pinned down the situation with drawing tablets. I’ve very seldom used one of these electronic pads myself. It looks like magic. Wonderful stuff.
Hi Louis —
Ooooh. Slant topped desks. Cool. I’ve seen pictures, but I’ve never actually seen one used in a classroom.
Ink wells. Wow.
My son, in Germany, learned to write with a fountain pen that you filled up from a bottle. I faced one of those ‘parentfail’ moments.
“It’s good for you to learn to do this yourself,” said I, meaning I have no idea how to fill a fountain pen and not fooling him any whatsoever.
Hi Louis —
Ooooh. Slant topped desks. Cool. I’ve seen pictures, but I’ve never actually seen one used in a classroom.
Ink wells. Wow.
My son, in Germany, learned to write with a fountain pen that you filled up from a bottle. I faced one of those ‘parentfail’ moments.
“It’s good for you to learn to do this yourself,” said I, meaning I have no idea how to fill a fountain pen and not fooling him any whatsoever.
Hi Louis —
Ooooh. Slant topped desks. Cool. I’ve seen pictures, but I’ve never actually seen one used in a classroom.
Ink wells. Wow.
My son, in Germany, learned to write with a fountain pen that you filled up from a bottle. I faced one of those ‘parentfail’ moments.
“It’s good for you to learn to do this yourself,” said I, meaning I have no idea how to fill a fountain pen and not fooling him any whatsoever.
Hi Louis —
Ooooh. Slant topped desks. Cool. I’ve seen pictures, but I’ve never actually seen one used in a classroom.
Ink wells. Wow.
My son, in Germany, learned to write with a fountain pen that you filled up from a bottle. I faced one of those ‘parentfail’ moments.
“It’s good for you to learn to do this yourself,” said I, meaning I have no idea how to fill a fountain pen and not fooling him any whatsoever.
Hi Louis —
Ooooh. Slant topped desks. Cool. I’ve seen pictures, but I’ve never actually seen one used in a classroom.
Ink wells. Wow.
My son, in Germany, learned to write with a fountain pen that you filled up from a bottle. I faced one of those ‘parentfail’ moments.
“It’s good for you to learn to do this yourself,” said I, meaning I have no idea how to fill a fountain pen and not fooling him any whatsoever.
Hi Susan —
Professional cartoonists do their ink and pen drawings on a slanted board. Or, at least, they’re depicted that way.
I, too, had a big wooden board that I lugged around from place to place. Endlessly useful. I used to do crossword puzzles on it.
Hi Susan —
Professional cartoonists do their ink and pen drawings on a slanted board. Or, at least, they’re depicted that way.
I, too, had a big wooden board that I lugged around from place to place. Endlessly useful. I used to do crossword puzzles on it.
Hi Susan —
Professional cartoonists do their ink and pen drawings on a slanted board. Or, at least, they’re depicted that way.
I, too, had a big wooden board that I lugged around from place to place. Endlessly useful. I used to do crossword puzzles on it.
Hi Susan —
Professional cartoonists do their ink and pen drawings on a slanted board. Or, at least, they’re depicted that way.
I, too, had a big wooden board that I lugged around from place to place. Endlessly useful. I used to do crossword puzzles on it.
Hi Susan —
Professional cartoonists do their ink and pen drawings on a slanted board. Or, at least, they’re depicted that way.
I, too, had a big wooden board that I lugged around from place to place. Endlessly useful. I used to do crossword puzzles on it.
Hi Jane O —
I had an old box of lovely fine paper with my name in that nifty writing that you can feel when you run your fingers across. At one time I accepted invitations with it.
I used the last of it up explaining to teachers that one kid or the other had been sick or she had permission to go home on the bus with Monica.
Hi Jane O —
I had an old box of lovely fine paper with my name in that nifty writing that you can feel when you run your fingers across. At one time I accepted invitations with it.
I used the last of it up explaining to teachers that one kid or the other had been sick or she had permission to go home on the bus with Monica.
Hi Jane O —
I had an old box of lovely fine paper with my name in that nifty writing that you can feel when you run your fingers across. At one time I accepted invitations with it.
I used the last of it up explaining to teachers that one kid or the other had been sick or she had permission to go home on the bus with Monica.
Hi Jane O —
I had an old box of lovely fine paper with my name in that nifty writing that you can feel when you run your fingers across. At one time I accepted invitations with it.
I used the last of it up explaining to teachers that one kid or the other had been sick or she had permission to go home on the bus with Monica.
Hi Jane O —
I had an old box of lovely fine paper with my name in that nifty writing that you can feel when you run your fingers across. At one time I accepted invitations with it.
I used the last of it up explaining to teachers that one kid or the other had been sick or she had permission to go home on the bus with Monica.
Illustrators and Architects still use a slanted surface, so this doesn’t seem all that odd. And I clearly remember my desk being like that in grade school.
Illustrators and Architects still use a slanted surface, so this doesn’t seem all that odd. And I clearly remember my desk being like that in grade school.
Illustrators and Architects still use a slanted surface, so this doesn’t seem all that odd. And I clearly remember my desk being like that in grade school.
Illustrators and Architects still use a slanted surface, so this doesn’t seem all that odd. And I clearly remember my desk being like that in grade school.
Illustrators and Architects still use a slanted surface, so this doesn’t seem all that odd. And I clearly remember my desk being like that in grade school.
My parents have a Regency writing box with handles and lined with leather and with storage space beneath. It would be the perfect travelling desk. I have often speculated on its history – and coveted it!
My parents have a Regency writing box with handles and lined with leather and with storage space beneath. It would be the perfect travelling desk. I have often speculated on its history – and coveted it!
My parents have a Regency writing box with handles and lined with leather and with storage space beneath. It would be the perfect travelling desk. I have often speculated on its history – and coveted it!
My parents have a Regency writing box with handles and lined with leather and with storage space beneath. It would be the perfect travelling desk. I have often speculated on its history – and coveted it!
My parents have a Regency writing box with handles and lined with leather and with storage space beneath. It would be the perfect travelling desk. I have often speculated on its history – and coveted it!
Chiming in way late, but lovely post, Joanna. I love the idea of a writing slope, but don’t have one. (Traditional artist’s trestle table are designed with heavy cast iron hinges so you can adjust the tilt of the whole tabletop for drafting, and I’ve used those many times. Same idea, and it really does make drawing/writing easier.
Last time I visited the British Library. they had Jane Austen’s writing slope displayed in their room of Library treasures. Sigh/ It was wonderful to see.
Chiming in way late, but lovely post, Joanna. I love the idea of a writing slope, but don’t have one. (Traditional artist’s trestle table are designed with heavy cast iron hinges so you can adjust the tilt of the whole tabletop for drafting, and I’ve used those many times. Same idea, and it really does make drawing/writing easier.
Last time I visited the British Library. they had Jane Austen’s writing slope displayed in their room of Library treasures. Sigh/ It was wonderful to see.
Chiming in way late, but lovely post, Joanna. I love the idea of a writing slope, but don’t have one. (Traditional artist’s trestle table are designed with heavy cast iron hinges so you can adjust the tilt of the whole tabletop for drafting, and I’ve used those many times. Same idea, and it really does make drawing/writing easier.
Last time I visited the British Library. they had Jane Austen’s writing slope displayed in their room of Library treasures. Sigh/ It was wonderful to see.
Chiming in way late, but lovely post, Joanna. I love the idea of a writing slope, but don’t have one. (Traditional artist’s trestle table are designed with heavy cast iron hinges so you can adjust the tilt of the whole tabletop for drafting, and I’ve used those many times. Same idea, and it really does make drawing/writing easier.
Last time I visited the British Library. they had Jane Austen’s writing slope displayed in their room of Library treasures. Sigh/ It was wonderful to see.
Chiming in way late, but lovely post, Joanna. I love the idea of a writing slope, but don’t have one. (Traditional artist’s trestle table are designed with heavy cast iron hinges so you can adjust the tilt of the whole tabletop for drafting, and I’ve used those many times. Same idea, and it really does make drawing/writing easier.
Last time I visited the British Library. they had Jane Austen’s writing slope displayed in their room of Library treasures. Sigh/ It was wonderful to see.
Sherrie here. I have several portable writing desks. My favorite is a wall-mount type medicine chest I converted to a lap desk. I notched the sides, then installed a bracket in the back of the door that slipped into the notches to hold the door open at whatever angle I wanted. The single shelf inside divides the box in half, and accommodates 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper on one side, and writing implements on the other. I added a handle and a locking latch, and now I can carry it anywhere.
I am a rubber stamper, and when I make cards I have another writing slope that I use because the constant hovering over a desk as I’m gluing and stamping gives me a sore neck. The writing slope helps.
We had an ergonomics expert talk to us at work once, and she suggested using a 3-ring binder laid flat, with the spine facing away from you. This gives you an instant slanted surface for your paperwork.
In the olden days, people spent far more time hunched over desks doing paperwork, writing letters, making lists and invitations, etc., and slanted surfaces must have been nearly mandatory if you wanted to avoid a crick in the neck!
Sherrie here. I have several portable writing desks. My favorite is a wall-mount type medicine chest I converted to a lap desk. I notched the sides, then installed a bracket in the back of the door that slipped into the notches to hold the door open at whatever angle I wanted. The single shelf inside divides the box in half, and accommodates 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper on one side, and writing implements on the other. I added a handle and a locking latch, and now I can carry it anywhere.
I am a rubber stamper, and when I make cards I have another writing slope that I use because the constant hovering over a desk as I’m gluing and stamping gives me a sore neck. The writing slope helps.
We had an ergonomics expert talk to us at work once, and she suggested using a 3-ring binder laid flat, with the spine facing away from you. This gives you an instant slanted surface for your paperwork.
In the olden days, people spent far more time hunched over desks doing paperwork, writing letters, making lists and invitations, etc., and slanted surfaces must have been nearly mandatory if you wanted to avoid a crick in the neck!
Sherrie here. I have several portable writing desks. My favorite is a wall-mount type medicine chest I converted to a lap desk. I notched the sides, then installed a bracket in the back of the door that slipped into the notches to hold the door open at whatever angle I wanted. The single shelf inside divides the box in half, and accommodates 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper on one side, and writing implements on the other. I added a handle and a locking latch, and now I can carry it anywhere.
I am a rubber stamper, and when I make cards I have another writing slope that I use because the constant hovering over a desk as I’m gluing and stamping gives me a sore neck. The writing slope helps.
We had an ergonomics expert talk to us at work once, and she suggested using a 3-ring binder laid flat, with the spine facing away from you. This gives you an instant slanted surface for your paperwork.
In the olden days, people spent far more time hunched over desks doing paperwork, writing letters, making lists and invitations, etc., and slanted surfaces must have been nearly mandatory if you wanted to avoid a crick in the neck!
Sherrie here. I have several portable writing desks. My favorite is a wall-mount type medicine chest I converted to a lap desk. I notched the sides, then installed a bracket in the back of the door that slipped into the notches to hold the door open at whatever angle I wanted. The single shelf inside divides the box in half, and accommodates 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper on one side, and writing implements on the other. I added a handle and a locking latch, and now I can carry it anywhere.
I am a rubber stamper, and when I make cards I have another writing slope that I use because the constant hovering over a desk as I’m gluing and stamping gives me a sore neck. The writing slope helps.
We had an ergonomics expert talk to us at work once, and she suggested using a 3-ring binder laid flat, with the spine facing away from you. This gives you an instant slanted surface for your paperwork.
In the olden days, people spent far more time hunched over desks doing paperwork, writing letters, making lists and invitations, etc., and slanted surfaces must have been nearly mandatory if you wanted to avoid a crick in the neck!
Sherrie here. I have several portable writing desks. My favorite is a wall-mount type medicine chest I converted to a lap desk. I notched the sides, then installed a bracket in the back of the door that slipped into the notches to hold the door open at whatever angle I wanted. The single shelf inside divides the box in half, and accommodates 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper on one side, and writing implements on the other. I added a handle and a locking latch, and now I can carry it anywhere.
I am a rubber stamper, and when I make cards I have another writing slope that I use because the constant hovering over a desk as I’m gluing and stamping gives me a sore neck. The writing slope helps.
We had an ergonomics expert talk to us at work once, and she suggested using a 3-ring binder laid flat, with the spine facing away from you. This gives you an instant slanted surface for your paperwork.
In the olden days, people spent far more time hunched over desks doing paperwork, writing letters, making lists and invitations, etc., and slanted surfaces must have been nearly mandatory if you wanted to avoid a crick in the neck!
Hi Isobel —
There must be something about a slanted surface that offers more control when writing. Ink flow. The angle of holding a chalk or pen?
I dunnoh.
And you had a slanted desk in grade school. How cool is that?
Hi Isobel —
There must be something about a slanted surface that offers more control when writing. Ink flow. The angle of holding a chalk or pen?
I dunnoh.
And you had a slanted desk in grade school. How cool is that?
Hi Isobel —
There must be something about a slanted surface that offers more control when writing. Ink flow. The angle of holding a chalk or pen?
I dunnoh.
And you had a slanted desk in grade school. How cool is that?
Hi Isobel —
There must be something about a slanted surface that offers more control when writing. Ink flow. The angle of holding a chalk or pen?
I dunnoh.
And you had a slanted desk in grade school. How cool is that?
Hi Isobel —
There must be something about a slanted surface that offers more control when writing. Ink flow. The angle of holding a chalk or pen?
I dunnoh.
And you had a slanted desk in grade school. How cool is that?
Hi Sherrie —
I hadn’t thought about the ergonomics — just about the way the medium and the pen moved on the surface.
But yes … the angle of slant must be important, or else why would we get carpal tunnel when the angle of typing is ‘off’.
Hi Sherrie —
I hadn’t thought about the ergonomics — just about the way the medium and the pen moved on the surface.
But yes … the angle of slant must be important, or else why would we get carpal tunnel when the angle of typing is ‘off’.
Hi Sherrie —
I hadn’t thought about the ergonomics — just about the way the medium and the pen moved on the surface.
But yes … the angle of slant must be important, or else why would we get carpal tunnel when the angle of typing is ‘off’.
Hi Sherrie —
I hadn’t thought about the ergonomics — just about the way the medium and the pen moved on the surface.
But yes … the angle of slant must be important, or else why would we get carpal tunnel when the angle of typing is ‘off’.
Hi Sherrie —
I hadn’t thought about the ergonomics — just about the way the medium and the pen moved on the surface.
But yes … the angle of slant must be important, or else why would we get carpal tunnel when the angle of typing is ‘off’.
Hi Cara —
Jan Austen’s writing desk … Isn’t it lovely?
A picture of it here
http://bit.ly/Nffy9Q
Hi Cara —
Jan Austen’s writing desk … Isn’t it lovely?
A picture of it here
http://bit.ly/Nffy9Q
Hi Cara —
Jan Austen’s writing desk … Isn’t it lovely?
A picture of it here
http://bit.ly/Nffy9Q
Hi Cara —
Jan Austen’s writing desk … Isn’t it lovely?
A picture of it here
http://bit.ly/Nffy9Q
Hi Cara —
Jan Austen’s writing desk … Isn’t it lovely?
A picture of it here
http://bit.ly/Nffy9Q
Hi Nicola —
It’s a Regency writing desk, and it needs a story?
And you write stories …
Hi Nicola —
It’s a Regency writing desk, and it needs a story?
And you write stories …
Hi Nicola —
It’s a Regency writing desk, and it needs a story?
And you write stories …
Hi Nicola —
It’s a Regency writing desk, and it needs a story?
And you write stories …
Hi Nicola —
It’s a Regency writing desk, and it needs a story?
And you write stories …