Charles Paxton Zaner

Charles Paxton Zaner

Charles Paxton Zaner (February 15, 1864 – December 1, 1918) was an American calligrapher, pen artist, and teacher of penmanship.

Zaner was born near Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He attended G. W. Michael's Pen Art Hall course in penmanship in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1882. By 1888, Zaner had been a teacher of penmanship at two Ohio colleges, and after the second had closed, he decided to open his own college where he could teach the art. Zaner's school was originally known as Zanerian Art College and was a joint venture with Lloyd Kelchner. In 1891, Zaner sold Elmer W. Bloser a share of the school. Kelchner left before the end of the year, resulting with Zaner and Bloser becoming equal partners. This company eventually became what is now the Zaner-Bloser Company and operated the Zanerian College of Penmanship in Columbus, Ohio.

Zaner died on the evening of December 1, 1918, in Mifflin, Ohio, when the car in which he was riding was struck by an oncoming train.

References

• Speaking Solutions: Penmanship's Storied Past and the Technological Roots of Its Revival, By Karl Barksdale
• Biography by Michael Sull
• The New Zanerian Alphabets, Charles Paxton Zaner, 1900 Scanned reproduction of 1900 book by Zaner.
• William E. Henning (2006). ELEGANT HAND, THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN PENMANSHIP & CALLIGRAPHY. Oak Knoll Press., including illustrations of Zaner's calligraphy.

External links

• History of the Zaner-Bloser Company
• Works by Charles Paxton Zaner in the Zaner-Bloser, Inc. / Sonya Bloser Monroe Penmanship Collection