---
product_id: 510168059
title: "Sull's Manual of Advanced Penmanship: An Instructional Guide to American Cursive, Ornamental Penmanship, and Flourishing"
price: "A$64"
currency: AUD
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reviews_count: 11
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region: Australia
---

# Sull's Manual of Advanced Penmanship: An Instructional Guide to American Cursive, Ornamental Penmanship, and Flourishing

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- **What is this?** Sull's Manual of Advanced Penmanship: An Instructional Guide to American Cursive, Ornamental Penmanship, and Flourishing
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## Description

Sull's Manual of Advanced Penmanship: An Instructional Guide to American Cursive, Ornamental Penmanship, and Flourishing [Sull, Michael R.] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Sull's Manual of Advanced Penmanship: An Instructional Guide to American Cursive, Ornamental Penmanship, and Flourishing

Review: Preserving the Legacy of Spencerian and Ornamental Penmanship - If you are at all interested in Spencerian Penmanship, you know the name Michael R. Sull, as the two are often spoken of hand-in-hand. Sull’s Manual of Advanced Penmanship does a deep dive into his 40 years of experience to share all he has learned. Chapters include American Cursive Handwriting, Ornamental Penmanship, Flourishing, and an extended appendix. What sets it apart from other calligraphy books is the depth and breadth of the experience Sull shares which so few in modern times have encountered. Sull explains his reason for writing the advanced book was to preserve all he has learned and created over his extensive career that was not published in any existing text. This includes his Spencerian-styled monogram designs, Masterpiece Flourishing (a technique Sull created to simplify and emulate the lavish pen-work seen in The Universal Penman), signature writing, and the complex capital letters appropriately named super twisters. He includes novelty penmanship styles such as connected, relay, cross, backwards, and puzzle writing. There is also instruction for off-hand and title flourishing, bird flourishing, artistic line work, filigree, and banners. In Chapter 2: Ornamental Penmanship, Sull explains the foundational elements of advanced penmanship such as curvature, negative space, line quality, shading, balance, and spontaneity & movement. These are the secrets to advanced lettering and composition that so few books address in detail. He further drills it down to ink qualities and condition of the pen point. Perhaps the most delicious part of the book includes tips for flourishing, how to manipulate shaded strokes, and extensive instruction on twister capitals. Included are several examples of ornamental capital variations. Beyond that, Sull explains in-depth how to lay out finished pieces, line breaks, negative space, flourish density, and composition. These are perhaps the most important insights we could hope to have shared with us to study, absorb, and apply in our own work. Very few of the many, many classes I have taken over the years discussed details such as shade control, understanding the use of curves, and the balancing of letters and flourishing in depth. Sull has left no detail out of this generous master class. The manual finishes with handouts, exercises, guide sheets, historical and modern work from many of today’s accomplished calligraphers (all students of Michael R. Sull), and Sull’s “Secret of the Ovals.” For those who may be disappointed in the shaky character of the lines in the exemplars – don’t be. The form and technique are most important and Sull’s are flawless. Beyond the visuals, Sull’s Manual offers an in-depth sharing of integral information to advance your calligraphic penmanship. I am grateful for this treasure trove and know I will refer to it over and over for years to come.
Review: A treasure of a book - The book contains advance penmanship instruction from the hand of Master Penman Michael Sull and it is a joy to read. The book is well structured, easy to follow and full of applicable knowledge. It contains step-by-steps instructions on flourishing, ornamental penmanship, drawing birds, monograms, acanthus leaves and inks. There are also a number of examples made by M. Sull and by many other penmen and calligraphers from years past that can be studied and analyzed by the interested reader. Please note however, that this is not a book for beginners as the premise is that its readers will already have a firm grasp of the Spencerian hand and at least one broad edge hand. Basic instruction on Spencerian has already been covered by other books written by M. Sull and other authors. As the book says, these are advanced techniques. All in all, this book contains distilled information based on M. P. M. Sull's decades of experience as a penman and an instructor; it is worth every penny.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #149,316 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #79 in Mixed Media (Books) #80 in Calligraphy Guides #127 in Arts & Photography Study & Teaching |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (46) |
| Dimensions  | 8.5 x 0.66 x 11 inches |
| ISBN-10  | 1510773479 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1510773479 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 264 pages |
| Publication date  | October 17, 2023 |
| Publisher  | Skyhorse Publishing |

## Images

![Sull's Manual of Advanced Penmanship: An Instructional Guide to American Cursive, Ornamental Penmanship, and Flourishing - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71VumU8LYuL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Preserving the Legacy of Spencerian and Ornamental Penmanship
*by E***A on October 28, 2023*

If you are at all interested in Spencerian Penmanship, you know the name Michael R. Sull, as the two are often spoken of hand-in-hand. Sull’s Manual of Advanced Penmanship does a deep dive into his 40 years of experience to share all he has learned. Chapters include American Cursive Handwriting, Ornamental Penmanship, Flourishing, and an extended appendix. What sets it apart from other calligraphy books is the depth and breadth of the experience Sull shares which so few in modern times have encountered. Sull explains his reason for writing the advanced book was to preserve all he has learned and created over his extensive career that was not published in any existing text. This includes his Spencerian-styled monogram designs, Masterpiece Flourishing (a technique Sull created to simplify and emulate the lavish pen-work seen in The Universal Penman), signature writing, and the complex capital letters appropriately named super twisters. He includes novelty penmanship styles such as connected, relay, cross, backwards, and puzzle writing. There is also instruction for off-hand and title flourishing, bird flourishing, artistic line work, filigree, and banners. In Chapter 2: Ornamental Penmanship, Sull explains the foundational elements of advanced penmanship such as curvature, negative space, line quality, shading, balance, and spontaneity & movement. These are the secrets to advanced lettering and composition that so few books address in detail. He further drills it down to ink qualities and condition of the pen point. Perhaps the most delicious part of the book includes tips for flourishing, how to manipulate shaded strokes, and extensive instruction on twister capitals. Included are several examples of ornamental capital variations. Beyond that, Sull explains in-depth how to lay out finished pieces, line breaks, negative space, flourish density, and composition. These are perhaps the most important insights we could hope to have shared with us to study, absorb, and apply in our own work. Very few of the many, many classes I have taken over the years discussed details such as shade control, understanding the use of curves, and the balancing of letters and flourishing in depth. Sull has left no detail out of this generous master class. The manual finishes with handouts, exercises, guide sheets, historical and modern work from many of today’s accomplished calligraphers (all students of Michael R. Sull), and Sull’s “Secret of the Ovals.” For those who may be disappointed in the shaky character of the lines in the exemplars – don’t be. The form and technique are most important and Sull’s are flawless. Beyond the visuals, Sull’s Manual offers an in-depth sharing of integral information to advance your calligraphic penmanship. I am grateful for this treasure trove and know I will refer to it over and over for years to come.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A treasure of a book
*by P***Z on October 4, 2025*

The book contains advance penmanship instruction from the hand of Master Penman Michael Sull and it is a joy to read. The book is well structured, easy to follow and full of applicable knowledge. It contains step-by-steps instructions on flourishing, ornamental penmanship, drawing birds, monograms, acanthus leaves and inks. There are also a number of examples made by M. Sull and by many other penmen and calligraphers from years past that can be studied and analyzed by the interested reader. Please note however, that this is not a book for beginners as the premise is that its readers will already have a firm grasp of the Spencerian hand and at least one broad edge hand. Basic instruction on Spencerian has already been covered by other books written by M. Sull and other authors. As the book says, these are advanced techniques. All in all, this book contains distilled information based on M. P. M. Sull's decades of experience as a penman and an instructor; it is worth every penny.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great Calligraphy book
*by S***F on December 17, 2025*

I have seen this book and it's great. I bought it here because of the price... under $20.00, with free shipping, of course.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Sull's Manual of Advanced Penmanship: An Instructional Guide to American Cursive, Ornamental Penmanship, and Flourishing
- The Art of Cursive Penmanship: A Personal Handwriting Program for Adults
- Spencerian Cursive Copybook Set Plus Theory

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*Last updated: 2026-03-21*