From man’s early attempts at communication by painting on cave walls to the variety of alphabets in use throughout the world today, the key points of the development of writing — which parallel the development of civilization — are presented in this Jackdaw’s broadsheets and hands-on documents. Students will find the map of language and alphabet development especially informative and intriguing. Historian: Carol Donoughue. The contents of this Jackdaw feature:

• Cavemen and Picture Writing
• The Sumerians
• The Egyptians
• The First Alphabet
• The Romans
• Medieval Manuscripts
• Handwriting Since the Invention of Printing

• Map showing the places in which various languages developed, including a chart of the development of our alphabet and a table showing the evolution of various scripts.
• Sumerian “medical” tablet.
• The Rosetta Stone from Egypt.
• Details from the tomb of Thethi, an Egyptian courtier.
• A Greek letter on papyrus.
• Malpas diploma, awarded to a Roman soldier.
• Page from the Luttrell Psalter.
• Pages from Martin Billingsley’s The Pen’s Excellencies, 1618.
• Page from Joseph Webb’s Webb’s Useful Penmanship, 1796.
• Page from John Langton’s A New Copy Book..., 1727.
• Page from Edward Daniel Riches’s Copy Book, 1840.