The Probert Encyclopaedia of General Information

SHORTHAND

Shorthand is a system of graphical notation making it possible to record speech at greater speed than by normal writing. Early systems were developed by the Greeks and Romans. Modern shorthand was first developed in England in 1588 by Timothy Bright. Thomas Shelton developed a system employed by Samuel Pepys in 1630. The idea of using sound instead of an alphabet as the basis for a shorthand system was introduced by William Tiffin in 1750. The Pitman system of shorthand, a phonographic system invented by Sir Isaac Pitman, first appeared in 1837 and is widely used today, being quite capable of 250 words a minute.
Research Shorthand