Isaac Pitman’s Shorthand

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Humans have been writing in abbreviated ways as long as writing has existed. In the 19th century, Isaac Pitman developed – and marketed – a system of shorthand that became widely adopted.

Research:

  • Baker, Alfred. “The Life of Sir Isaac Pitman.” London. Pitman. 1919. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/centenlifeofsiri00bakeuoft/page/34/mode/2up
  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sir Isaac Pitman". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Pitman
  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Pitman shorthand". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Apr. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pitman-shorthand
  • Miller, Genesie. “A Brief on Shorthand.” Utah Division of Archives and Records. April 11, 2023. https://archives.utah.gov/2023/04/11/a-brief-on-shorthand/
  • “Sir Isaac Pitman.” The Vegetarian. 1895. https://archive.org/details/vegetarianmonthl00unse_0/page/122/mode/2up?q=sir+isaac
  • Pitman, Benn. “Sir Isaac Pitman, His Life and Labors.” Cincinnati. C.J. Krehbiel. 1902. https://archive.org/details/sirisaacpitmanhi00pitmuoft/page/48/mode/2up
  • Pitman, Isaac. “Phonotypic Journal, for the Year 1845.” Vol. 4. Phonographic Institution. 1845. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=K-gOAQAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PP7&hl=en
  • Russon, Allien R.. "shorthand". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/shorthand
  • Triggs, T.  (2009, October 08). Pitman, Sir Isaac (1813–1897), deviser of a system of shorthand writing. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-22322

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More description

Humans have been writing in abbreviated ways as long as writing has existed. In the 19th century, Isaac Pitman developed – and marketed – a system of shorthand that became widely adopted.

Research:

  • Baker, Alfred. “The Life of Sir Isaac Pitman.” London. Pitman. 1919. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/centenlifeofsiri00bakeuoft/page/34/mode/2up
  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sir Isaac Pitman". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Pitman
  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Pitman shorthand". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Apr. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pitman-shorthand
  • Miller, Genesie. “A Brief on Shorthand.” Utah Division of Archives and Records. April 11, 2023. https://archives.utah.gov/2023/04/11/a-brief-on-shorthand/
  • “Sir Isaac Pitman.” The Vegetarian. 1895. https://archive.org/details/vegetarianmonthl00unse_0/page/122/mode/2up?q=sir+isaac
  • Pitman, Benn. “Sir Isaac Pitman, His Life and Labors.” Cincinnati. C.J. Krehbiel. 1902. https://archive.org/details/sirisaacpitmanhi00pitmuoft/page/48/mode/2up
  • Pitman, Isaac. “Phonotypic Journal, for the Year 1845.” Vol. 4. Phonographic Institution. 1845. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=K-gOAQAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PP7&hl=en
  • Russon, Allien R.. "shorthand". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/shorthand
  • Triggs, T.  (2009, October 08). Pitman, Sir Isaac (1813–1897), deviser of a system of shorthand writing. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-22322

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2025-01-22 36 min Transcript
Listen elsewhere

Available Results

Generated results are saved to your library for reuse and search.

No generated results are available for this episode yet.

Transcript

Open the Transcript tab to load the transcript.

Chapters

No chapters available.