Charles Paxton Zaner was an Americancalligrapher, pen artist, and teacher of penmanship. Zaner was born near Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He attended G. W. Michael's Pen Art Hall course in penmanship in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1882. By 1888, Zaner had been a teacher of penmanship at two Ohio colleges, and after the second had closed, he decided to open his own college where he could teach the art. Zaner's school was originally known as Zanerian Art College and was a joint venture with Lloyd Kelchner. In 1891, Zaner sold Elmer W. Bloser a share of the school. Kelchner left before the end of the year, resulting with Zaner and Bloser becoming equal partners. This company eventually became what is now the Zaner-Bloser Company and operated the Zanerian College of Penmanship in Columbus, Ohio. Zaner died on the evening of December 1, 1918, in Mifflin, Ohio, when the car in which he was riding was struck by an oncoming train.
Penmanship
Movement and Form
Zaner examined the idea of movement creating the form of letters written in the cursive hand using the muscular arm method, prevalent in the United States from the late 19th century. He considered the hinge action of the forearm as the central energy of movement and that its relation to the direction of writing, or page angle, could affect letter form and the effort required. By changing from a page angle which placed letter down strokes on a line towards the center of the body, as other educators advised, Zaner offered a means to link muscle effort with balanced, condensed, or extended letter forms.
Hand Action
In handwriting courses such as the Palmer Method the fingers used to support and steady the hand on the page for arm movement were fixed in relation to the pen, for example, “the nails of the third and fourth fingers should rest lightly on the paper, and should follow the course of the pen in every direction”. Zaner's lessons in business and ornamental penmanship attempted to describe how professional writers of these styles used the 'rest' fingers to control movement. For writing lower case letters, Zaner explained the technique of letting the little finger slide to right in making up strokes, but to rest or drag for down strokes in order to improve control of the arm movement. This required the joints of the rest fingers to act on the down strokes, independent of those holding the pen, which Zaner termed as hand action.
Professional Pen Work
In the field of professional penmanship as a fine art, Zaner produced educational material and instruction, going beyond the copybook as in his lessons for school and commercial handwriting. His capital letters for Ornamental Penmanship appearing with comments by Earl A. Lupfer in The Educator showed how basic forms could be extended by flourishes with "balance, symmetry, and grace".
Graphic Arts
Zaner also provided instruction in drawing and illustration; and, as with penmanship, he encouraged individuality and discovery rather than the rigid following of a prescribed method.
