New to Shorthand

Hi Everyone,
I just purchased a 1919 copy of the Anniversary Edition for about $3 and couldn’t pass it up.  I’ve never tried shorthand before, but I can remember my grandmother writing out grocery lists and such with it.  Since all of you have MUCH more experience in this than I do, do you think that it’s crazy for me to try to teach myself shorthand out of this copy?  Yes, I know that the editions have improved over the years, but I think there’s something interesting about learning out of such an old book.  Any thoughts?

(by ohsosimplysweet for everyone)


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  1. Welcome to the group, Simply. Yes, of course, you can learn from that book, and it is not crazy at all! You probably mean the 1919 version, which is what we call Pre-Anniversary, correct? Does the book have a red or a dark colored cover? There are other books that are used to reinforce what you learn from the manual, but the manual itself should be fine.

    In the early versions of Gregg there are a lot more things to be memorized, but in terms of potential for speed, these versions are second to none, since taking dictation in courts and speeches by writing was the norm (no computers or stenotype machines available at the time!) and they needed to be suitable for that kind of work.

    The important thing about learning from the manual is to learn one lesson well before going to the next, or as they call it "mastery before speed". In other words, don't jump ahead until you have learned the principles from the previous lessons.

    You can always post questions here and we will answer them.

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