The GREGG Shorthand Manual Simplified

This very nicely printed book, "The GREGG Shorthand Manual Simplified", is a pure delight to have and hold. Even if the subject matter wasn't so well presented, it would still be a great little possession to have on the shelf.Concerning the content, there's a very useful comparison of the various editions of this book since 1888 on the wikipedia page about Gregg shorthand. As they say there, the fastest version of Gregg was the 1916 edition, with which stenographers could reach 280 words per minute. With this "Simplified" version, people could get to 150 words per minute. Then with the later Jubilee edition (which I bought myself some time in the 1970s), people could get less speed than that. It seems that what happened was that every time the brief forms were reduced in number, the system got easier to learn, but slower to use.I did a side-by-side comparison of all of the theory paragraphs of this Simplified second edition (1955) and the later Jubilee second edition (1971). Almost everything was essentially the same, although the order of presentation in these two editions is utterly different. I don't think they could have scrambled the order of the paragraphs more thoroughly than they did.One really obvious difference that I found between the theory in the Simplified and Jubilee editions was the absence of the disjoined word-endings in the Jubilee second edition. In this Simplified second edition, disjoined word-endings are in paragraphs 61, 305 and 309.Also missing in the later Jubilee edition are Ow before N, N-N and Moun (paragraphs 202, 203, 204), Jent, Jend, Pend, Pent (paras 233, 234), word-beginnings After-, Short-, Ship-, Incl- (paras 225, 249, 323), Is Not, Was Not in phrases (para 256), word-endings -ify, -use, -cate, -gate, -ntic, -ology, -pose, -position, -less, -field, -port, -ford, -ton, -town (paras 266, 363, 370, 418, 419, 451, 459, 466), various consonant Omissions (paras 304, 306, 307, 308, 317), compound word beginnings (para 357), Understand, Understood, Misunderstand, Misunderstood (paras 391, 392). These are all bonuses that you get in this Simplified edition, which were apparently dropped from the later Jubilee edition.By contrast, I found almost nothing in the later Jubilee edition which was not in this Simplified edition. The only later edition additions which I found were the word-endings -quent and -titute (para 364).In my opinion, this Simplified edition is probably better than the later editions. If you wanted to, you could just ignore the extra stuff which I have indicated, in order to be consistent with later editions. The detached/disjoined word-endings are a particular difference which you will notice if you read "Alice in Wonderland in Gregg Shorthand", for example, which is written in the older style including these detached/disjoined word-endings, and using short forms which are absent from later editions.Conclusion:I can't imagine a better book than this one for learning Gregg shorthand.

I studied shorthand in high school years ago and enjoyed it. As an adult I used it to take notes at college which helped a lot. Now many years later I still use it some when listening to speakers, making notes for myself, but only remember a few "words". I ordered this book for it sounded it would be most like the kind of shorthand I studied back then. It is not only very much the kind I studied (shorthand changed several times over the years) and I now can use it to remember the word/signs I used then and add more as needed. This book is a great find and a wonderful one to use with practice.

I wish the book had larger, darker print. I will probably have to use my magnifying glass to read it. It's not set up the way I remember learning short hand, but, I'll give it a try.

It's been - well, I won't reveal how many years since I used shorthand - but, I found myself in a position to use it again and wondered where I could find a good book. The GREGG Shorthand Manual Simplified proved to be just what I needed to brush up on this "art" of substituting shorthand for longhand. The lessons are detailed and not only provide writing practice, but reading as well. I would recommend this book not only to those of us who used shorthand in the past and want to review, but newcomers who want to learn a "new" skill.

I took this class in high school now I find I need a quicker way to take my note's throughout my day. Also, if one is looking for a new skill consider giving this an opportunity.

They hid a great looking book in an ugly sleeve

Like this book

I learned Gregg Shorthand ~20-25 years ago. I've always found it useful - whether I needed it to take meeting notes, or whether I wanted to jot down private notes that I didn't want anyone else to be able to read. Because my shorthand education was so long ago, there were certain words that I just couldn't remember how to write. This left me writing shorthand MY way and not the RIGHT WAY. I bought the Gregg Shorthand book to help give me a refesher course on all those words (and shortcuts!) that were giving me trouble. It definitely delivered!... it was the perfect book for me to get completely up to speed on all the shortcuts I'd forgotten. It's extremely easy to read, and gives you exercises in which to practice with. These days, I am sure there are more efficient ways to take dictation, but if you already knew shorthand from your past, and don't want to learn something new - this is the perfect book for you. I highly recommend it for those folks already somewhat familiar with the shorthand method!