For centuries, handwriting served as a powerful tool for communicating information, preserving knowledge, shaping identity, and building empires. In our digital world, however, fewer and fewer people can read handwritten words.
Handwriting has survived disruptive technologies before. The invention of printing did not diminish the need for handwriting. Instead, it created new markets for ambitious printers and entrepreneurial writing teachers. These men and women used advances in print technologies to widen the influence of handwriting in everyday life.
A Show of Hands focused on people, cultures, and technology to illustrate how handwriting has been taught, reproduced, and reimagined over the past five hundred years. Displaying a range of books and manuscripts from the Newberry’s collection, the exhibition made the role of handwriting in the age of print newly legible.
A Show of Hands was generously supported by the Richard C. von Hess Foundation, the Fitzgerald Family Foundation, and Diane and Richard Weinberg.
Public Programming
- "The Best Penman of Our Age": The Lettering of George Salter - In this recording, you can watch an event about George Salter, a German born designer, illustrator, and teacher, that was part of the programming for the exhibition. Jill Gage, Custodian of the Newberry's John M. Wing Foundation on the History of Printing, discussed the archive of Salter’s work held by the Newberry, focusing on the skillful and imaginative lettering that makes his work so distinctive.
- The Evolution and Influence of Chicago-Style Graffiti - Here, you can watch a recorded conversation with PENGO and EAST, two first-generation Midwest graffiti writers, as they explore the evolution and development of Chicago-style graffiti. This event was part of programming for the exhibition.