When did cursive handwriting first come into use?

sjhodges825

From hieroglyphs the Egyptians developed a cursive writing http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110477/hieroglyphic-writing Dec 31 06, 10:05 AM

zbeckabee

Aldus Manutius is credited with this invention. "Articles written by hand had resembled printed letters until scholars began to change the form of writing, using capitals and small letters, writing with more of a slant and connecting letters. Gradually writing became more suitable to the speed the new writing instruments permitted. The credit of inventing Italian 'running hand' or cursive handwriting with its Roman capitals and small letters, goes to Aldus Manutius of Venice, who departed from the old set forms in 1495 A.D. By the end of the 16th century, the old Roman capitals and Greek letterforms transformed into the twenty-six alphabet letters we know today, both for upper and lower-case letters." http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa100197.htm#Manutius Dec 31 06, 10:15 AM

lanfranco

There were various types of cursive handwriting in existence before Aldus founded his printing press in Venice, and these can be seen in handwritten documents. Aldus' great innovation was not actually to invent cursive but rather to base his fonts on Italian humanistic handwriting and on the Greek cursive counterpart of the 15th century. The Egyptians did use a cursive handwriting called "hieratic" (a simplified form was known as "demotic." The Romans also used a type of cursive, which is quite difficult to read, even for accomplished Latinists, owing to its unusual, rapidly-made letter forms and its many ligatures. http://www.oakknoll.com/bookexcerpt.php?booknr=63429 Dec 31 06, 2:38 PM

Arpeggionist

Hebrew also has had a cursive system for a good while longer. Even as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet were developing their modern forms, Hebrew cursive developed on its own track. Which is why when you look at a person's handwriting in Hebrew today and a printed document, the letters seem to bear little resemblence to each other. Dec 31 06, 4:41 PM