Saturday I received a book in the mail from Great Britain that I bought for $20 on E-Bay: "The Story of British Shorthand" by E.H. Butler, published by Pitman in 1951.
I've only had a chance to glance through it, but it looks to be an interesting find . . . not so much a polemic for the Pitman system as a true (but somewhat idiosyncratic) history. There seems to be a fair treatment of Gregg (several pages worth). There are funny chapter titles, such as:
Shorthand and Shakespeare
Enter the "Good Fairy"
The Clans Foregather
Beer and Bibles [honest]
Some Unpublished Systems
More "Shorthand Mysteries"
Shorthand Epitaphs and Wills [honest again]
Shorthand Societies
Shorthand "Curiosities"
etc.
Looks like a fascinating book. Has anyone else ever seen it or read it?