1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio, Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So, uh, no, Staratu 4 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: came out because of that. I have, of course been 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: deep in my Dracula bram Stoker rabbit hole, yeah, which 6 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: I've mentioned on recent shows. It had been a little 7 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: while since I reread the original English language version of Dracula, 8 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: and after I reread Powers of Darkness, which is the 9 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: Icelandic version, which when it was translated back into English, 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: reveals a lot of differences from the original. We talked 11 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: about that a little on our bram Stoker episode. There's 12 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: some fun scholarship around it, and whether or not bram 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: Stoker actually prepared a different version for Sweden and Iceland, 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: or whether some interpreter just took some things upon themselves. 15 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: It's pretty interesting thing if you want to get into that. 16 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: But after I reread that, I then was like, well, 17 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: I think I need to go back to the eighteen 18 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: ninety seven novel and compare them. This is not a 19 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: Halloween episode, so don't worry with all this gothic talk. 20 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: But what jumped out at me. Even more than just 21 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: trying to track the variations in the narrative was just 22 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: how often shorthand is mentioned in the book as a 23 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,559 Speaker 1: plot point. At one point, Jonathan Harker writes a letter 24 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: to Mina in Shorthand while he is captive in Transylvania, 25 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: the idea being that the villainous titular count will not 26 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: be able to read shorthand, and then in Mina's journal 27 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: entries in the book, she mentions how she's been learning 28 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: shorthand so she can help her future husband in his work. 29 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: She also presents some notes to Van Helsing in Shorthand 30 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: when she first meets him as kind of a burn 31 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: after she feels infantilized him because she wants to show 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: him that she is very smart and accomplished. She feels 33 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: very guilty about doing this almost instantly because Van Helting 34 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: can't read shorthand and turns out to be a very 35 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: nice man. But all of this got my brain wondering 36 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: about why bram Stoker might be so focused on shorthand. 37 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: So now we're going to talk about shorthand during this 38 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: time period. There was a lot going on with shorthand. 39 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: At the time, it had become very very popular in 40 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: the couple of decades leading up to this, and that's 41 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: largely due to one person, because it turns out of 42 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: that if you search online for the inventor of shorthand, 43 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: one name comes up from the nineteenth century, even though 44 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: there have been various forms of systematized shorthand or abbreviated 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: writing in play for literal centuries. But today we are 46 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: going to talk about that one person that comes up, 47 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: Isaac Pittman, and how he developed and marketed a system 48 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: of shorthand that became very widely adopted in the nineteenth 49 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: century when Bram Stoker was writing his book. Yes, So, 50 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: if by chance you don't know what shorthand is, it's 51 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: an abbreviated way to write, and it's often used for 52 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: taking down notes or recording what a person is saying verbatim. 53 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: There are lots of different names that have been used 54 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: for it, including stenography, to kigraphy, bracigraphy, and as we'll 55 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: see in today's story, a lot of other stuff. This 56 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: can really look like indecipherable scribbles to somebody who was 57 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: not familiar with the system being used, and it's really 58 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: not a modern invention. Although what we are talking about 59 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: is the nineteenth century today. There have been systematized abbreviation 60 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: methods for writing almost as long as there have been 61 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: written languages. Xenophon, a Greek historian who was born circa 62 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: four thirty BCE, used it when he wrote down the 63 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: Memoirs of Crates. Both Chinese and Japanese languages have their 64 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: own abbreviated writing schemes, as do a lot of other languages. 65 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: The Diary of Samuel Peeps, often referenced on this show, 66 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: was written in shorthand, and Martin Luther wrote his sermons 67 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: in shorthand. In fact, a lot of average people wrote 68 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: in shorthand in previous stages of history, sometimes to record 69 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: events unfolding around them, but also because they could just 70 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: rapidly get their thoughts down on paper and then revise 71 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: and refine them as they copied those notes into a 72 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: long hand form. That's a practice that comes up in 73 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: today's show as well. We won't go through all the 74 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: various people who worked on their own shorthand methods, but 75 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: we will mention one in particular because it was used 76 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: by today's main subject, to Isaac Pittman, and also because 77 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: the book we're about to name has just an entertainingly 78 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: long title, and you know we love those. In seventeen 79 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: eighty six, Samuel Taylor published an essay intended to establish 80 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: a standard for an universal system of scenography or shorthand 81 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: writing upon such simple and approved principles as have never 82 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: before been offered to the public, whereby a person in 83 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: a few days may instruct himself to write shorthand correctly, 84 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: and by a little practice cannot fail taking down any 85 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: discourse delivered in public. This cost one guinea that was 86 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: considered to be pricey enough that this book was an investment. 87 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: By that point, Taylor had been working on his system 88 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 1: for about thirteen years. He had created simpler versions of 89 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: nineteen letters of the alphabet because his system did not 90 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: need vowels in words that had more than one syllable, 91 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: and this also eliminated any consonants that were deemed to 92 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: be superfluous. Yeah, he was just like, hey, what about 93 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: instead of you write an A, you do this little dash. 94 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: She'll be fine. Uh. And that brings us to Isaac Pittman. 95 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: He is the person who is invoked frequently as the 96 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: inventor of shorthand, though that's obviously not really accurate. He 97 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: did though, come up with a new form of it, 98 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: and one that became incredibly popular, and he is a 99 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: very interesting figure. So that is why we are stepping 100 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: away from my initial plan of just doing a history 101 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: of stenography to really talk about him in his life. 102 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: Isaac Pittman was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, on January fourth, 103 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: eighteen thirteen. His father, Samuel Pittman, worked in the textile industry, 104 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: and his mother was Maria Davis Pittman. The family included 105 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: ten other children, of which Isaac was the third, and 106 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: they were very religious. Samuel was the superintendent of a 107 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: Sunday school. From a young age, Isaac is said to 108 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: have been very fascinated with language and writing in the 109 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: ways in which ideas were recorded. As a child, Isaac 110 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,160 Speaker 1: didn't get a lot of formal education. He later said 111 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: it was hardly worthy of mention, but he was so 112 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: curious as a kid that he managed to get a 113 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,679 Speaker 1: pretty fair amount of self education from reading. In addition 114 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: to language, he devoured books about astronomy, and then that 115 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: led him to study math because he wanted to be 116 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: able to calculate the movements of celestial bodies. At this 117 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: point in time, astronomy and astrology had diverged for the 118 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: most part, but Pittman used his astronomy knowledge to write 119 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: horoscopes for his entire family. I don't know why, I 120 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: find that very charming. He also carried around a copy 121 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: of a grammar book that he studied whenever he had 122 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: a free moment. According to the account of a family friend, 123 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: from the time he was twelve, Isaac would copy little 124 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: bits from various books into a blank book that he 125 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: always kept with him, with the intention of memorizing anything 126 00:07:55,880 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: that he committed to its pages. A nineteen nineteen biography 127 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: of Pittman says that one of his pocket companions, which 128 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: still exists today, contained the entirety of a Greek grammar guide. 129 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: And to be clear, Isaac did attend school, even if 130 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: he didn't seem to think it was an especially robust amount. 131 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: In addition to the schooling that the Pittman children did get, 132 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 1: they also had music lessons in the evening. For a while, 133 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: their father had hired a woman to come in and 134 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: teach some music every night, and then Samuel also bought 135 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: two globes for them to study. Samuel also joined one 136 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,679 Speaker 1: of the area's first lending libraries, and Isaac made regular 137 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: use of that membership. Isaac later wrote about how as 138 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: a teenager he came to be interested in shorthand. He noted, quote, 139 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: with that instinctive love of knowledge common to boys, I 140 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: began to study shorthand. I saw that it would be 141 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: a great advantage to write six times as fast as 142 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: I had been accustomed to. When I borrowed a book, 143 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: read it through, copied the alphabet and arbitrary words, and 144 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: have written shorthand ever since. His cousin, Charles Laverton, had 145 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: loaned him a book about the Samuel Taylor method of scenography, 146 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: and that was the beginning of a lifelong fascination and study. 147 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: Coming up, we're going to talk about Isaac's move into 148 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: the workforce, but first we'll pause for a sponsor break. 149 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: Pittman went right to work as a clerk in eighteen 150 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: twenty nine at the age of sixteen. His first job 151 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: was in James Edgel's cloth mill, where his father was 152 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: a supervisor, and then when his father opened his own 153 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: mill two years later, Isaac moved there to work, still 154 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: serving as a clerk. His older brother, Jacob once wrote 155 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: of Isaac quote. Isaac never had any of that rollicking 156 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: nonsense about him peculiar to most of us boys. Nor 157 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: do I remember his ever stopping on his way from 158 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: school to play, but home directly. He went either to 159 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: his books or to his work. And Isaac does seem 160 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: to have been pretty serious from an early age. As 161 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: a very young man, he became an advocate for temperance, 162 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: and he swore off drink for the rest of his life, 163 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: with one minor exception for a bit, and we'll talk 164 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: about that shortly. At the end of every twelve hour 165 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: work day, Isaac went home and read as much as 166 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: he could. He kept focusing on expanding his education. He 167 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: also got up at four a m. To read before work. 168 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: He had been really disappointed when he had to end 169 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: his school days to work full time, and he said 170 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: to have begged his father to let him go back. 171 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: As Samuel Pittman became more financially successful, he sent Isaac 172 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: to a specialty school for career training at the Training 173 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: College of British Foreign School Society. He got teaching credentials. 174 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 1: Isaac had already shown an interest in teaching, and he 175 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: had taught at the Sunday school. He did so well 176 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: at the training college that the headmaster wrote to Samuel, quote, 177 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: you may send me as many more of your children 178 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,439 Speaker 1: as you can spare. Five more of Isaac's siblings took 179 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: that offer. Jacob, Joseph, Risella, Jane and Mary Pittman all 180 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: attended at various times. After getting his teaching certification, Isaac 181 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: went from clerking to a full time teaching position in 182 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: Lincolnshire at Barton upon Humber, at a school known as 183 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: Long's School. Long School had one hundred and twenty students, 184 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 1: and as master, Pittman made seventy pounds a year. In Marton, 185 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 1: Isaac dedicated himself not just to his students, but also 186 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:47,719 Speaker 1: to the community. He gave free lectures on astronomy and 187 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: also on temperance, and he became a member of the 188 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: Methodist Church was very active in his church community. He 189 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: also prepared and distributed a temperance pamphlet to everyone in town, 190 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: which included the rhetoric quote ardent spirits, pure or mixed, 191 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: are pronounced by the highest authorities in our land to 192 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:11,679 Speaker 1: be evil spirits. This is not generally believed faith is 193 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: weak because knowledge is imperfect. Not till lately has the 194 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: old fashioned falsity been exploded that a comfortable glass does 195 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: one good. Spirits and poisons are synonymous terms. A few 196 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: years into his time at Barton, Isaac got married to 197 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: missus Mary Holgate. Mary was the widow of George Holgate, 198 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: who had left her pretty well off. The two of 199 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,559 Speaker 1: them got married the day after Isaac's twenty second birthday, 200 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: on January fifth, eighteen thirty five. Because of Mary's financial standing, 201 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,079 Speaker 1: Isaac was able to live a much more luxurious life 202 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: than a teacher normally would have. But they moved from 203 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: their home a year after the wedding because Isaac was 204 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: offered a job at a new nonconformist school in Watten 205 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: under Edge and Lecester. This move had the advantage of 206 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: bringing Isaac closer to his brother Jacob, who was also 207 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: teaching by this time and had married a woman who 208 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: was also a teacher. Their family was like teachers teachers teachers. 209 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: His sibling group did a lot of teaching. As you'll see, 210 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: he brings some of his other siblings in to teach 211 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: under him. Isaac and Mary lived at Wotton for a 212 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: little more than three years, and these were very important 213 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: times for him. For one, he was introduced to the 214 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,439 Speaker 1: works of Emmanuel Swedenborg by a man named John Kingwell Bragg. 215 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:37,959 Speaker 1: He happened to meet Bragg by chance when the men 216 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:43,439 Speaker 1: were sharing a stage coach. Swedenborg's religious ideas were controversial. 217 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: In the shortest version. He didn't believe in the Holy Trinity, 218 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: and he thought that he had a direct interaction line 219 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: with God. He believed that the spiritual was something that 220 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: was within every person at their core. And all of 221 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: this might sound kind of benign today, but even sixty 222 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 1: years after Swedenborg's death, when he was being encountered by Isaac, 223 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: these were contentious and some people believed dangerous ideas. But 224 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: Isaac Pittman was fascinated and he really thought Swedenborg was 225 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: onto something. He became a Swedenborgian essentially, and he paid 226 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 1: for that fascination because for these beliefs, Pittman was turned 227 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: out of his church and he also lost his teaching job. 228 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 1: While the institutions he had been part of changed their 229 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: relationships with him, Pittman made a lot of changes to 230 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: his life himself during this time as well. Up to 231 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty seven, while he spoke out against spiritust liquors, 232 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: he still like a lot of people, drank beer, but 233 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: he completely cut that out of his life. That year, 234 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: he also significantly changed his eating habits. After being asked 235 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: to kill a bird for the cook to use to 236 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: make dinner, Pittman was not able to do it, and 237 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: he started to think about his relationship with animals and 238 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 1: their use as food. He came away from those reflections 239 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: a vegetarian. Later he would share that his ongoing issues 240 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: with upset stomach and heartburn went away as soon as 241 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: he changed his diet in this way. He wrote the 242 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: following in eighteen seventy nine in a letter to the Times, quote, 243 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: My dietetic experience is simply this. About forty years ago, 244 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: dyspepsia was carrying me to the grave. Medical advisers recommended 245 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: animal food three times a day instead of once, and 246 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: a glass of wine. On this regimen, I was nothing bettered, 247 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: but rather grew worse. I avoided the meat and the wine, 248 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: gradually recovered my digestive power, and have never since then 249 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: known by any pain that I have a stomach. I 250 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: love that turn of phrase. I wouldn't even know I 251 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: had a stomach. It never bothers me. So this is 252 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: all a lot to go through, right, losing your religious community, 253 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: losing your job, your diet in a pretty significant way, 254 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: particularly for the time, and then cutting out that last 255 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: bit of alcohol. But Isaac was still a very young man. 256 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: He didn't need to worry about money thanks to his 257 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: wife's income, and after having been dismissed from that job 258 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: but still wanting to teach, he regrouped and he opened 259 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: his own school. He put it on the same street 260 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: as the school that had let him go. I don't 261 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: know if that was just like the fortune of where 262 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: he was able to get a lot, or if it 263 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: literally was like a way to thumb his nose at them, 264 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: but free to set his own curriculum. One of the 265 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: subjects that Pittman taught his students was shorthand. He had 266 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: been using Samuel Taylor's system for years. At that point, 267 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: it was the only way he took notes. He also 268 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: wrote the first drafts of his correspondence that way, so 269 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: that he could capture what he wanted to say before 270 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: transcribing it into longhand. And so he started teaching Samuel 271 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: Taylor's method of shorthand to his students, But soon he 272 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: realized that there was a big obstacle to this effort. 273 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: There still wasn't a reasonably priced and simple to understand 274 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: book to use as a study guide or a reference, 275 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: so he set out to create one. He wrote his 276 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 1: guide based on what he knew was needed in practical coursework, 277 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: and prepared it for submission to publisher Samuel Bagster. Bagster 278 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: accepted the manuscript, but before putting it to print, he 279 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 1: got a colleague whose name we don't know to look 280 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: at it, and this colleague wrote to Bagster and said, quote, 281 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,120 Speaker 1: the system mister Pittman has sent to you is already 282 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 1: on the market. Now. If you will compile a new system, 283 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: I think you will be more likely to succeed in 284 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:48,360 Speaker 1: your object to popularize shorthand there will be novelty about it. 285 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: What this existing book was is also unclear, and so 286 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 1: is why someone like Pittman wouldn't have known about this 287 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,399 Speaker 1: book already existing. But Bagster took this back to Isaac 288 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: Pittman in May of eighteen thirty seven and encouraged him 289 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 1: to do as this feedback suggested and create a whole 290 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: new system. Isaac spent his summer dedicated to this new endeavor. 291 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: He was wrapping up work on another project that he 292 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: had been in the midst of for Bagster, that was 293 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: a corrected edition of the Comprehensive Bible, and that project 294 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: had started. I love this so much. After Isaac wrote 295 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: to Bagster, who was the Bible's publisher and was a 296 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: very well known Bible publisher, with a list of errors 297 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: that he had found in the circulating version of it. 298 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: And so then Bagster was like, fine, do you want 299 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,720 Speaker 1: to just work for me and make a corrected edition? 300 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: And he did, Please don't do that to publishers. So 301 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: that's not the way to get a job today. But 302 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: with that Bible almost done, Isaac could focus on this 303 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: new and apparently thrilling challenge of forming a shorthand system. 304 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: Isaac's brother Ben later wrote, quote, we talked of nothing 305 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 1: else on our way to and from school and in 306 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: our occasional morning walks, and intense was the joy of 307 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: my brother at the completion of his long task the 308 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,400 Speaker 1: Comprehensive Bible and the opportunity it afforded him to give 309 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: his time and thoughts, as well as his heart, to 310 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,880 Speaker 1: new ideas in the field of experiment and usefulness. Then 311 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: opening up to him Pimman's idea differed from what had 312 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: come before in one very important way, and we'll talk 313 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: about it after we hear from the sponsors that keep 314 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:43,120 Speaker 1: the show going. Isaac Pittman had the idea to develop 315 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: a new system of shorthand that was based on sounds 316 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: representing words phonetically rather than just abbreviating the words and 317 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: making simpler letters. He started with vowels because that seemed 318 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,679 Speaker 1: the most lacking in existing systems. You'll recall that Taylor 319 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 1: often did away with them altogether. Pittman was really nervous 320 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: about figuring out those vowels and creating a new approach 321 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,360 Speaker 1: to shorthand. But once he did, it was as if 322 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: the whole system became almost obvious to him. He described 323 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: this as follows quote. I saw the truth, practiced it, 324 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: and it became delightful. In a few months, I got 325 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: clear of the shallow waters and breakers of our present 326 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: orthography and committed myself to the boundless deep of phonographic writing. 327 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: So this new form that he came up with was 328 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,640 Speaker 1: tested in the classroom. Isaac's younger brothers taught at his school, 329 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: and his brother Ben, who was only fifteen at this point, 330 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: learned the new shorthand and taught it to a class 331 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 1: of a couple of dozen students to test it. Then 332 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: the entire Pittman family learned it and started using it 333 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: to continue to test its value. When Isaac had compiled 334 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: his new system and written out a guide for it 335 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:02,719 Speaker 1: in manuscript form, he brought it to Bagster before eighteen 336 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,200 Speaker 1: thirty seven was out. At the age of twenty four, 337 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:10,439 Speaker 1: Isaac had published Stenographic Soundhand. This was not a big 338 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: fancy publication scenario where Bagster handled everything. It sounds a 339 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: lot more like kind of a DIY effort, with Pittman 340 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: getting helped to assemble the books after Bagster had the 341 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: leaves printed. This is evidenced by a charming note that 342 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: Isaac wrote to Bagster quote, I have sent two hundred 343 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: stenographies for present sale, and the rest to make up 344 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: fifteen hundred will follow by wagon in about a week. 345 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: I think I shall want fifteen hundred for myself. Please 346 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: let me know in a month or two how they sell. 347 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,159 Speaker 1: I must beg pardon for the manner of sewing in 348 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: this two hundred. The next will be dark colored thread 349 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: and done properly. Also, the labels will be more neatly 350 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:55,439 Speaker 1: in the center. The stitching was done by the elder 351 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: boys in my school who have learned the system. They 352 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: are quite delighted to spend two or three days in 353 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 1: this sort of half play. Since this first essay, we 354 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: have had a lesson on the subject from a stationer. 355 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: I love this so much. Yeah, that he had the 356 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: kids at his school sew together his books, and I 357 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 1: was like, you're doing it wrong. You're doing it wrong. 358 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: Let me get a pro and ear to tell you 359 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,879 Speaker 1: how to do it well. This also highlights how like 360 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: printing and book binding are two different things. Yes, well, 361 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: and you know there were books that Bagster was handling 362 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: everything for like he was known, like I said, as 363 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 1: a Bible publisher, but he was kind of doing this 364 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: as a little bit of a favor, and they wanted 365 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,919 Speaker 1: to make it an inexpensive book so anybody could afford it. 366 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 1: So he was like, I can't pay for the binding 367 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: because that will drive the price up. But if we 368 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: can figure out a way to do that, then sure, 369 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,920 Speaker 1: that's no problem. I just I love everything about this. 370 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: According to a nineteen nineteen biography of Pittman written by 371 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: Alfred Baker, quote, the Pitmanic system was introduced to the 372 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:08,640 Speaker 1: world quietly and without advertisement. As far as can be discovered, 373 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 1: its author engaged in no special efforts to make it known. 374 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: He was indeed far more concerned in affecting improvements in 375 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: his work for the contemplated second edition. Pittman called this 376 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 1: first edition a feeler to see how it was received, 377 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,199 Speaker 1: and he was continuing to teach it as school and 378 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: work on revisions for all this time, this wasn't his 379 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: only focus. Two years after the first edition of Cinographics 380 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: Soundhand was released, Pittman moved to Bath and started another 381 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,720 Speaker 1: school there. One possible draw was the Swedenborgian Church that 382 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: had been established there, which Isaac and Mary joined right 383 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: after the move. Isaac meanwhile was preparing a second edition 384 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: of the book, which he wanted to have a catchier title. 385 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: He and Bagster landed at phonography, a new name, new thing. 386 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 1: According to Bagster. Yeah, there's a whole interesting account of 387 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: them kind of landing at that word and Isaac being like, 388 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:11,679 Speaker 1: that's not really a word yet, and Bagster's like, right, 389 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: because we're gonna make it a word, because no one 390 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: knows how to describe this kind of shorthand. So while 391 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: this may have had a quiet start. By eighteen forty six, 392 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: Isaac's shorthand phonography system had become quite popular. This was because, 393 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:32,160 Speaker 1: in part in eighteen thirty nine, a uniform postage law 394 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,320 Speaker 1: was passed in the UK called the Penny Postage Law, 395 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,199 Speaker 1: and it went into effect in eighteen forty and that 396 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,400 Speaker 1: law stated that any letter could be sent for one penny, 397 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: and Pittman was ready for this change. He had made 398 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: a penny plate laid out in his system in a 399 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 1: very abbreviated way, that he could mail to school headmasters 400 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:56,120 Speaker 1: to get them interested in phonography. They could also per 401 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,120 Speaker 1: a note He included share this with students if they wished, 402 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 1: and he he also offered on that brief print the 403 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 1: note that quote any person may receive lessons from the 404 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: author by post gratuitously. He also let people send him 405 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: their work and their exercises in the system, and he 406 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: would personally correct any errors and make notations and send 407 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 1: it back. This was essentially the beginning of correspondence courses, 408 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: at least in the modern sense. Incidentally, Pittman got really 409 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: angry at people who started charging for this same service, 410 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: even though he had originally planned to do so himself, 411 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,639 Speaker 1: but he changed his mind and made it free, hoping 412 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,199 Speaker 1: that that would help entice more people to start using it. 413 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: But then he was like, you should not get paid 414 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: a wage to do this. I'll do it all for free, 415 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 1: even if I work nineteen hours a day, which is 416 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: not wise. Next, he arranged lecture tours during school breaks 417 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 1: so he could go out and teach people phonography and 418 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,880 Speaker 1: explain and its usefulness as quote a method of writing 419 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:08,119 Speaker 1: all languages by means of signs that express sounds. To 420 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: prove that, he included exercises in his book that included 421 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,960 Speaker 1: multiple languages, including the one hundredth Psalm, which he featured 422 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: in French, German, Italian, Chinese, and Hebrew. He would also 423 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 1: have the audience members at his lectures give him dictation 424 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: in foreign languages so he could write them on a 425 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:32,160 Speaker 1: large blackboard in his version of phonography. Realistically, it doesn't 426 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: quite work in all languages. There are languages that don't 427 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,360 Speaker 1: have the same sounds in them correct, but it does 428 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: work well with quite a few of them. Apparently. Yeah, 429 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: I will confess I have never used it or learned shorthand, 430 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,160 Speaker 1: but apparently there are a lot of languages that will 431 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,439 Speaker 1: perfectly fit into this system. But thanks to all of 432 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 1: these marketing efforts, Pittman's system did start to catch on, 433 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:04,199 Speaker 1: and his writing lesson supplements and books started selling incredibly well. 434 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: Phonography was reprinted many times to meet this demand, and 435 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty six, when it really got popular, he 436 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: actually shut down the school to use that space for 437 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:20,199 Speaker 1: more print facilities. The school morphed at that point and 438 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: it became the first phonetic institute. He would have to 439 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 1: move in the years that followed to larger and larger 440 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:31,240 Speaker 1: facilities as demand for phonetic books and information continued to 441 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: grow and to spread his method even farther than he could. 442 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: With this new institute, he started a periodical, the Phonetic Journal. 443 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: During this time, he was also working on another concept, 444 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: phonetic spelling reform. He was trying to reform spelling in 445 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: English to a more rational system without all the odd 446 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,359 Speaker 1: exceptions that are so common. This was sort of a 447 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: natural follow on from his phonography work, as he ended 448 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: up printing a second journal, phone Graphic Correspondent. He was 449 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: the editor. He set in a lecture to the Phonographic 450 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: Corresponding Society in eighteen forty four quote. Many attempts have 451 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: been made to reform the errors of our written language, 452 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: but hitherto without success. There was no desire created in 453 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 1: the public mind for a consistent system of orthography. Now, 454 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 1: by your benevolent exertions and spreading abroad the truths of 455 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:29,159 Speaker 1: phonetic writing, a desire has been created for phonotype, a 456 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: desire that will increase on that which it feeds. He 457 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: collaborated with mathematician Alexander John Ellis on creating the English 458 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 1: phonotypic alphabet, which never really caught on, much like all 459 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: of the other attempts to make English phonetically spelled. Yeah, 460 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: there is in the note for this episode a link 461 00:28:53,320 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 1: to one of his publications that is typeset phonetically and 462 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: it is one of the hardest things I have ever 463 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: tried to make my way through. Admittedly some of that 464 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,160 Speaker 1: is just me, but I'm curious if anybody wants to 465 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: go look for these to see how they do. On 466 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: April twenty first, eighteen sixty one, Isaac got married a 467 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: second time, this time to a woman named Isabella Masters. 468 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: His first wife, Mary, had died in eighteen fifty four, 469 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 1: but the specifics of her passing kind of eluded me. 470 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: His brother's biography even mentions it only in passing and 471 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: actually references Isaac's feelings for another woman. We'll talk about 472 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: that a little bit behind the scenes. On Friday, Isaac 473 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: and Isabella welcomed their first child, Alfred, a year after 474 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 1: the wedding, and then a second son, Ernest, was born 475 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:51,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty four. By the end of the eighteen fifties, 476 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: Isaac had started setting aside money to save up for 477 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 1: a purpose built facility to house his institute. He eventually 478 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: bought a block of buildings at auction in eighteen seventy three. 479 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 1: For this project, we hired architect Frederick John Williams to 480 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 1: design the new building, which made use of some of 481 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: the existing structures on the lot. The resulting building was 482 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: four floors plus a basement. When it was complete, Isaac 483 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:21,720 Speaker 1: fitted it out with the latest printing technology, a steam 484 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: powered press. His staff had a steep learning curve with it, 485 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: and there were innumerable stumbling blocks to keeping it up 486 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: and running. And then it was also so loud that 487 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: a neighbor made a noise complaint. It turned out that 488 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: running a press was really challenging, but he did stay 489 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: in the printing business, and eventually he moved into creating 490 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:48,719 Speaker 1: a larger publishing company. When his sons reached adulthood, Isaac 491 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: formed a publishing house with them called Isaac Pittman and Sons. 492 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: They printed the various books and study materials that Isaac designed, 493 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: and then eventually expanded into a more generalized education press. 494 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: That press continued into the twentieth century, and then it 495 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:09,080 Speaker 1: was eventually purchased by another publisher in the nineteen eighties, 496 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: so it went on for a long time. Less than 497 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 1: a decade after starting the publishing company with his sons, 498 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: Isaac Pittman was knighted in eighteen ninety four. Two years 499 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: after that, in the autumn of eighteen ninety six, the 500 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: papers reported that Sir Isaac was quite ill with a 501 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 1: quote congestion of the lungs. He continued on for several months, 502 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: sometimes rallying some energy, but mostly having to stay in bed. 503 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 1: He was pragmatic about his health. He wrote to his brother, quote, 504 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: I must expect a continual decrease of strength until the 505 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: heart gives its last pulsation, and the angelic messengers who 506 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: wait on the dying draw out the spiritual body from 507 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: this one. Then I shall have a sound heart and 508 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 1: get to work in my new sphere of life. His 509 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: eighty fifth birthday party was celebrated with his friends at 510 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: home the following January. He was very weakened at this point, 511 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 1: but he was still managing the details of his press 512 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: from a wheelchair. He made all of the arrangements for 513 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: his January publications before his death on January twenty second, 514 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety seven, at the age of eighty four. He 515 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,680 Speaker 1: had sent a note shortly before he passed to his 516 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: minister which read quote, to those who ask how Isaac 517 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: Pittman passed away, say peacefully and with no more concern 518 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: than in passing from one room into another, to take 519 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: up some further employment. Many years after Isaac Pittman created 520 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,719 Speaker 1: his system, he gave a lecture in which he talked 521 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,960 Speaker 1: about the genesis of his method and his ongoing efforts 522 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: to refine it through use, which included quote, the shorthand 523 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:53,240 Speaker 1: alphabet given in the first edition of Phonography contains the 524 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: elements of the present matured system, but in several of 525 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,080 Speaker 1: its details, it was imperfect because it proceeded from a 526 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:05,680 Speaker 1: finite mind. These imperfections were discovered by experience and removed 527 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:09,800 Speaker 1: as a skillful anatomist can from three or four bones 528 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: construct the entire skeleton of an animal. So from three 529 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,080 Speaker 1: or four shorthand signs or letters that have been acknowledged 530 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: from the commencement of shorthand writing is the best. For 531 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: certain letters, we can construct a natural shorthand alphabet. Pittman 532 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,960 Speaker 1: shorthand lives on. It remains one of the three most 533 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: popular shorthand systems in the world, alongside the Greg method, 534 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: which came up just a few decades after him, and 535 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: the t Line methods. I found him to be such 536 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: a fascinating creature. M hmmm, I have very joyous email 537 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,120 Speaker 1: to read. Oh good, this is very very joyous to 538 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: me personally. So this is from our listener Hannah, who 539 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: writes has nothing to do with history. Get ready. Hello. 540 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: Following up on my email from quite a while ago. 541 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: Thank you so much to Holly for all the advice 542 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 1: about Galaxy's Edge. Our original trip got postponed by quite 543 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: a bit, but we finally made it to Disney this 544 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,400 Speaker 1: week and even got to do a full five day trip. 545 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 1: We did rope drop early access hours. We were even 546 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,200 Speaker 1: the first in line to scan into the park and 547 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 1: we spent twelve full hours in Galaxies Edge. I cannot 548 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:22,480 Speaker 1: wait to go back again. It was the coolest experience ever. 549 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:25,399 Speaker 1: I could live there if they would let me. We 550 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,720 Speaker 1: were able to ride Rise of the Resistance three times, 551 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,319 Speaker 1: truly the most amazing ride I have ever been on, 552 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: even ties with the Haunted Mansion. For me, Hannah, we're 553 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 1: neck and neck. We feel the same. Smuggler's Run was 554 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: accepting parties of two in their single rider cue and 555 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,160 Speaker 1: we walked on the ride six times in one hour. 556 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,839 Speaker 1: I got pilot once and crashed the Millennium Falcon. I'm 557 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,239 Speaker 1: so proud of you. Uh Ogus Cantina was fantastic and 558 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 1: I want to recreate their cocktails at home now. Ronto 559 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: Roasters and Docking Bay were so delicious, and I had 560 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 1: to exercise so much self control to not buy all 561 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,720 Speaker 1: of the merch. Thank you again for all your advice, 562 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 1: and I hope you get to go to galaxy He's 563 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 1: Edge again soon too. Hannah and then Hannah sent pictures 564 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,920 Speaker 1: of their trip and they look so delighted and joyous, 565 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: and it makes my heart so happy. I'm actually going 566 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,120 Speaker 1: to Galaxies Edge in a couple of days. With my 567 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: best friend because I'm spoiled I, as Tracy knows, sometimes 568 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:22,319 Speaker 1: I work from Galaxy's Edge. Sometimes I just decide I'm 569 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,960 Speaker 1: going to work for Galaxy's Edge tomorrow and I we're 570 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 1: close enough it's a forty five minute flight, and go 571 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:32,040 Speaker 1: down there, bring my laptops and in Toronto roasters and 572 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: type while I while I eat delicious things. It's a great, 573 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 1: great way to live. That is thanks to many Kajillian 574 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 1: business trips giving me all of the all of the 575 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,719 Speaker 1: sky miles on Earth. I can just be like I'm 576 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 1: going goodbye. I hope everybody gets to do things like 577 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 1: that that delight them. Thank you so much for sharing 578 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,440 Speaker 1: all of that with me, Hannah. It made me so 579 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,719 Speaker 1: happy and made my heart very joyous to know that 580 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: you had a time as good as I hope for you. 581 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:01,759 Speaker 1: So I hope you to go back again. I too, 582 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:04,000 Speaker 1: would love to live there. If you would like to 583 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,040 Speaker 1: write to us about your vacation's historical or Star Wars 584 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,799 Speaker 1: or otherwise, you can do so at History Podcast at 585 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe to the show. 586 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:17,759 Speaker 1: It's so easy. You could do it in the iHeartRadio 587 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:26,200 Speaker 1: app or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff 588 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:29,000 Speaker 1: you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 589 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 590 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,400 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.