Charles Paxton Zaner
(1864-1918)
(*Portrait and bio taken with permission from Michael Sull’s Spencerian Script and Ornamental Penmanship, Volume
I.)
Charles
Paxton Zaner was born on a farm near Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania on February 15, 1864. He showed a fondness for
handwriting early in his youth, and after completing his common school
curriculum, he went to Oberlin, Ohio in 1882 to
enroll in G. W. Michael's Pen Art Hall course in penmanship. For a short time
after finishing the class work in Oberlin, he traveled to Audubon, Illinois to assist his
brother in a business venture. Within a short period of time (approximately one
year), his desire to earn his living as a penman caused him to journey to
Delaware, Ohio, becoming a teacher of penmanship in a local college. In 1888 he
left Delaware and went to Columbus, Ohio as an instructor
of penmanship in yet another business college. Not long afterward the school
was closed, and it was then, in 1888, that C. P. Zaner decided to establish a
school of his own. Originally known as the Zanerian Art College, Master Penman
Lloyd Kelchner became a partner with Zaner the
following year. In 1891 Elmer W. Bloser joined the partnership, but before the
end of the same year, Kelchner left the business
arrangement, resulting in Zaner and Bloser becoming equal partners in the
Zaner-Bloser Company
For the
rest of Mr. Zaner's life, he continued, with the help
of Mr. Bloser, to improve the status of the Zanerian College. Zaner was
instrumental in authoring the texts used at his institution, and through the
medium of the Zanerian's penmanship magazine the
Business Educator he published countless lessons in every branch of penmanship
and pen art, involving the talents of the finest penmen, engrossers,
and educators. These men and women, representing the very best in their
respective fields, contributed their talents monthly to the magazine, providing
penmanship specimens, information on various techniques, and advertising for
all manner of supplies, equipment, and correspondence courses. Through Mr. Zaner's vision and insight into the field of Penmanship,
countless thousands of people learned the method and manner of such
handwriting.
His
skill at wielding a pen was legendary, and he thoroughly deserved his
unofficial title as "the world's best all around penman" In every standard
lettering style, as well as in offhand flourishing, his flawless models were
breathtaking examples of perfection in the penman's art. He was a sincere and
devoted instructor who inspired his students to achieve their highest
potential. In terms of the Golden Age of Ornamental Penmanship, both C. P.
Zaner and E. W. Bloser were pivotal figures where student met master and new
careers were launched. Many of the master penmen from the era were products of
the Zanerian. Most of those who were not either contributed to the Business
Educator, or taught in its classrooms. It became the Mecca for penman and
penmanship, and its reputation became synonymous with the highest standards of
the art.
Charles
Paxton Zaner's life ended tragically on Sunday
evening, December 1, 1918, when the car
that he was riding in on a trip back to Columbus was struck by a
train that gave no warning of its approach in the darkness. He was 54 years old
and in the height of his career. His death was mourned by penmen throughout the
country.
*Below are two Zanerian Certificates
penned by CP Zaner likely as a model for his students to follow.
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