Jake Weidmann: One of the Youngest Master Penmen in the World

There Are Only 12 Master Penmen in the World, This Guy Is the Youngest

Jake Weidmann, an artist from Denver, Colorado, holds the title of Master Penman from the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH). When his story spread in 2015, reports described him as one of only about a dozen people in the world with the title, and as the youngest by roughly three decades; he was about 30 at the time. The number twelve is the figure given in those reports, not an official registry, so it is best read as “a very small group.”

The close-up above shows the kind of tool behind his work: a fine pointed nib set in an oblique holder, the angled pen that ornamental penmen use to make swelling, hairline-thin strokes. Here is what a Master Penman is, how Weidmann got there, and why handwriting still matters.

What a Master Penman is

IAMPETH was established in 1949 to promote skill in penmanship and to share knowledge about handwriting, engrossing (the decorative lettering used on certificates, resolutions and diplomas) and related lettering arts. It runs an annual conference with a week of workshops and keeps a collection of historical documents and specimens.

The title itself has roots in the decades after the American Civil War. Penmanship schools were common, and students produced their own showpiece certificates; those whose work reached the highest standard were recognised as masters. Today the designation is rare and reserved for penmen whose work the association judges to meet that same top standard.

It is worth separating three terms that often get mixed up:

Penmanship is the skill of writing well by hand, especially in traditional joined scripts.
Calligraphy is the broader art of decorative lettering, with many historical and modern styles from around the world.
Graphology is something else entirely: the attempt to read a person’s character from their handwriting. It is widely regarded as a pseudoscience, and it has nothing to do with learning to write beautifully. Some popular articles about Weidmann wrongly used the word for his craft.

How Jake Weidmann learned the craft

In the video profile above, produced by UPROXX, Weidmann explains that he decided early on that if he was going to be an artist, everything that came from his hand should be done with care. He says, “I took it upon myself to really work obsessively on my handwriting.” He practised for hours a day from a young age, and as a student he wrote all of his class notes by hand. Professors reportedly noticed that even his exam essays looked unusually formal and polished.

His pieces combine lettering with detailed drawing: fine hatched shading, large ornamental flourishes and capital letters built from dozens of controlled strokes. Like many penmen, he is drawn to the history of American handwriting and has spoken of Platt Rogers Spencer, who developed Spencerian script around 1840, as the creator of American penmanship.

A short history of beautiful handwriting

For much of the 19th century, clear and elegant handwriting was a practical job skill. Spencerian script, an oval-based cursive designed to be fast and legible, was used for American business correspondence from about 1850 to 1925 and taught in schools. You can still see its influence in the Coca-Cola and Ford logos.

Two inventions changed that. The typewriter made handwritten business letters unnecessary, and simpler school methods such as the Palmer Method replaced ornate scripts with plainer, quicker forms. Later, computers and phones reduced everyday handwriting even further. Ornamental penmanship survived mainly as an art, kept alive by a small community of practitioners, teachers and collectors, which is why the title of Master Penman is so rare today.

Does handwriting still matter?

Weidmann and fellow penman Michael Sull argue that handwriting is valuable for thinking and self-expression, not just for looks. Sull put it memorably: “If the Declaration of Independence was written as an email, how special or personal would that be?”

Research offers some support, with caveats. A widely cited 2014 study by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer found that students who typed lecture notes on laptops tended to copy words verbatim and remembered less of the material than students who wrote by hand, probably because handwriting forces you to summarise as you go. Later studies have produced more mixed results and found that electronic notes can help at some stages of learning. A fair summary is that handwriting encourages deeper processing, while typing is faster and easier to search.

Common myths about penmanship

“Beautiful handwriting is a gift you are born with.” Masters such as Weidmann describe years of daily, deliberate practice. Talent helps, but repetition and good models do most of the work.

“You need expensive tools.” A beginner can start with a cheap pointed nib, a straight or oblique holder, smooth paper and ink. The oblique holder mainly helps right-handed writers keep the nib at the right angle for slanted scripts.

“Handwriting reveals your personality.” That is the claim of graphology, which lacks scientific support. Handwriting shows practice and habits, not your character.

How to start improving your own handwriting

Slow down. Most messy handwriting comes from speed. Write a few lines a day slowly and evenly.
Use guidelines. Lined practice sheets with slant lines help you keep letter height and angle consistent.
Copy a historical model. Old copybooks in Spencerian or business penmanship are widely reproduced and show exactly how each letter is built.
Practise basic strokes first. Ovals, push-pull lines and loops build control before full words.
Write things you will keep. Letters, cards and journals give the practice a purpose, which is the spirit Weidmann’s work celebrates.

Weidmann’s path shows that a craft many people consider old-fashioned can still be a living art and even a career, as long as someone is willing to put in the hours.

Sources: IAMPETH official site; Mental Floss: Meet the world’s youngest Master Penman; My Modern Met: Jake Weidmann, Master Penman; Wikipedia: Spencerian script; Wikipedia: Graphology; Wikipedia: Note-taking. Video by UPROXX; earlier coverage by FirstToKnow.

Related: