(*Portrait
and bio taken with permission from Michael Sull’s Spencerian Script and Ornamental
Penmanship, Volume I.)
Frederick W. Tamblyn
(1870-1947)
Frederick
W. Tamblyn was born on a farm in western Kansas in 1870. At the age of sixteen,
he gained his first start in penmanship under the instruction of Mr. Goss, an itinerant
writing teacher. The gracefulness and beauty of the writing fascinated young
Tamblyn, and he was filled with a determination that would allow nothing to
prevent his progress in mastering the techniques of ornamental penmanship. He
learned a great deal while studying on his own, scanning the pages of such
penmanship magazines as Gaskell's Guide, The Western Penman and the Penman's
Art Journal.
After
graduating from High School in Paola, Kansas, he attended and subsequently
graduated from the Central Business College at Sedalia, Missouri. Here he
remained for five years as a member of the faculty. In 1894, after an
experience as an itinerant teacher, he spent some time in engrossing and
teaching in St. Louis, and in 1897, located permanently in Kansas City,
Missouri. For forty years Mr. Tamblyn conducted business there, turning out
exceptional work in engrossing, card writing, and most significantly lessons by
mail. In this last category he was a pioneer, establishing himself as the
leader in correspondence courses for nearly two generations. He was a very
successful and most inspiring teacher, who strove to impress upon his students
the necessity of faithful application that was paramount to achieving
proficiency in penmanship. At the time of his death on February 16, 1947, it
was estimated that he had trained over 40,000 men and women in penmanship
through his "lessons by mail."
