The Stenographic Collection
When founded in 1839 by Franz Jakob Wigard, the first Parliamentary stenographer in Saxony, the Stenographic Institute was the first and only such agency for the scholarly and practical maintenance of stenography in the German-speaking areas of Europe. Over the course of its 160-year history the institute has evolved from a small reference library for the institute’s members into one of the most important subspecialty libraries in the field.
Within the Stenographic Collection is material from the past four hundred years. The 55,000 volumes in the collection cover to a large degree the 2000 years of stenographic history. The collection comprises the entire canon of specialized stenographic literature of the German-speaking world as well as a sample of stenographic works in 52 different languages.
The collection’s stenographic core along with the related topics of typewriting/ editing and office management include books in the following areas: history, pedagogical literature, system theory and methods, reports, articles, yearbooks, manuals, instructions, standards, instruments for the dissemination of pictures, sound and data, manuscripts, and original stenographs. In addition, there are numerous smaller collections: medals, busts, pictures, documents, and historical typewriters.
Almanac for female stenographers ed. Damen-Verein fuer Gabelsberger’sche Stenographie zu Dresden. - Dresden 1879 (1878)
The volume from 1879 contains a calendar of the regulations of a Ladies–Union
for Gabelsberger’sche Stenography in Dresden, as well as an extensive
statistical compilation of Lady-Stenographic Unions in German-speaking
areas. Reported therein are the activities of those Unions, teaching methods
and practical achievements of individual persons.
The second part, written in stenographical form, comprises reports, narrations
and poems, and serves as a supporting guide of the historical knowledge
of the Gabelsberger System.
Correspondenzblatt des Königl. Stenographischen
Instituts zu Dresden
Correspondence paper of the Royal Stenographic Institute of Dresden /
Ed.: D. Heyde; H. Raetzsch. – Dresden 2 (1858)
The “Correspondence paper” has emerged from the extended and various correspondences of members of the Royal Stenographical Institute of Dresden. With the publishing of this magazine, they published their stenographic correspondences from around the world, as well as reporting on their work and other activities. Next to the section that is written in longhand, is the same text written in the stenographical form of the Gabelsberger System. Obvious to the viewer is the shortness of the stenographic portion in comparison with that written in longhand. This volume from 1858 contains a few reflections on the topic of “Shorthand in the United States”.
Jahrbuch für Töchter gebildeter Stände hrsg. von Gustav Körner. Redigiert von Elise Polko. - Leipzig 9 (1881)
Above all, the yearbook contains - in addition to a Protestant, Roman
Catholic, and Greek Orthodox, as well as Russian, Jewish and Mohammedan
calendar of the year 1881- an instructive and poetical compilation for
young girls and women.
Among other things, the essay “Women and Stenography” by Prof.
Dr. Woldemar Zeibig, who worked more than 40 years at the Royal Stenographic
Institute primarily as a librarian, is made public. Preceding the front
page is a detail of the painting “The Sistine Madonna” by
Raphael.
Lindgren, Astrid : Titta, Madicken, det snoear. - 1982
Spiral notebook: Handwritten on the inside cover of the notebook is a manuscript written in Melin-style shorthand.
The stenograph-tablet contains the stenographical manuscript by Astrid
Lindgren (1907–2002) for the children’s book “Titta,
Madicken, det snöar”.
The shorthand notice is written in pencil in the Swedish style of colonel-general
Olaf Melin. Astrid Lindgren used this system for all her compositions.
With the dedication on the inside cover, she explains that her books were
only made possible by the use of stenography. All her revisions were done
in shorthand and she transferred all her texts herself from stenography
to typewriter.
Macauly, Aulay ; Polygraphy or short-hand made easy to
the meanest capacity: being an universal character fitted to all languages:
which may be learned by this book, without the
help of a master / invented by Aulay Macauly.
– 2. ed. – London: privat publisher, 1747
In his own textbook, Aulay Macauly presents his own stenographic system.
It is the first shorthand system in English to include written vowels.
The system has a new denotation: ‘Polygraphy’.
Macauly provides proof in his book where he presents a psalm in 8 different
languages. He was the first who wanted to use his shorthand style deliberately
for other languages.
The textbook is exceptionally well designed and equipped with a copperplated
introduction .
It shows men and women stenographers in front of a pulpit recording the
sermon of a preacher. The book contains a dedication to King George, Prince
of Wales, and the signature of the author himself.
The Phonographic Magazine / ed. And engraved on stone
by Benn Pitman
– Cincinnati, O. (1855)
Benn Pitmann (1822–1910), founder of the Phonetic Institute in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and president of the American Phonetic Association,
first published this journal in 1854. The journal, excluding headlines,
was printed entirely in the system invented by his brother, the inventor
of the English system, Isaac Pitman. The magazine includes chapters on
how to learn stenography; including reading and exercise texts.
Texts and illustration were “engraved on stone” by Benn Pitman
himself.
Reisert, Karl: Text- and Workbook of Gabelsberger stenography
/ after the Berliner Resolutions of 1902
– Bd. 1: Die Verkehrschrift. – Würzburg: Bauer, 1904
Gymnasium professor and state approved-teacher, Karl Leisert, opens the
first part of his text- and workbook with an essay on the topic of the
notion, mission and development of stenography. Therein he gives an explanation
of the Gabelsberger system: the theories of word formation, word composition,
and grammalogue.
The textbook is intended for use in instructional settings, as well as
for self study.
Weston, James : Stenography completed or the art of short-hand
brought to perfection; being the most easy, exact, speedy, and legible
method extant …
Authoriz’d by his Majesty. Compos’d by James Weston / James
Weston. – 8. ed. - London: privat Publisher, 1748
The work by James Weston (1688–1751) was the most extensive and
most beautiful English stenographical lecture book up to that time. Weston,
a teacher and practitioner of stenography in London, presents in his textbook
his own geometrical system. He uses (Teilzuege) of the (großen lateinischen
Schrift) to set up an alphabet for the first time.
With that the development of stenography was made substantially easier.
Weston was the first to suggest detailed guidelines for the development
stenography.
Three full-paged copperplates present the range of events for which stenography
was primarily utilized in the past: parliament, justice and the Church.
The copperplate cover page shows a portrait of the author.
German – American stenographic Society “Gabelsberger”. – New York, 1889
Photography
The photograph shows the union German-American Stenographic Society “Gabelsberger”
in New York. The union was devoted to the cultivation and the contribution
of the German cursive Stenographic System Gabelsberger as well as the
transfer of the System of Heinrich Richter into the English language.
It also arranged literal evenings.
The Dresdner parliament stenographer, Dr. Rudolf Tombo (1846–1923)
– in the middle of the picture – prominently participated
in the foundation of the Union. Among other things he was one of the founders
of the “German Union of Columbia University” and brought the
New York Regional Group of the “General German Language Club”
into being.
“Erika” – typewriter: foldable small
type writer with case.
– Dresden, 1917
The “Erika”, produced by the company Seidel & Naumann,
was the first and most successful small typewriter to enter the market
during the pre- war period.
Technical: First German small typewriter with foldable carriage, universal
keyboard, 30 keys, double Shift keys, Vorderaufschlag, and ribbon.
Seal of the Royal Saxon Stenographical Institute of Dresden
Bronze with wooden handle [ca. 1860]
Franz Xaver Gabelsberger
Picture in bronze in a wooden frame, sponsored by the stenographic union Gabelsberger of Dresden, 1908
Transcription: Ideas and words in the flow of time
To bind to the physical reality
I searched for with earnest activity
A method to work this out,
And what I found
I put that forward
To broaden the use,
So as to always a cheerful outlook
Tender also to my students.
Franz Xaver Gabelsberger
Inventor of German stenography
Born: Died:
February 9, 1789 January 4, 1849
Dedicated to the Gabelsberger Stenographers Union of Dresden. April 21,
2003.