William Mason (Shorthand Part 10)

While little is known about the life of William Mason (fl. 1672-1709), a writing instructor and stenographer who lived in London. Virtually everything we know about Mason comes from his books, especially the preface of his La Plume Volante which reads:

“Having delighted in the art of shorthand from my youth, I practiced it for some time according to the various rules that were published by divers authors, before I attempted to compose any method of my own. The first book of this kind which I ventured into the world was entitled "A Pen Plucked from an Eagle's Wing," which was chiefly founded on Mr. Rich's scheme, whose shorthand at that time was very much in vogue: but the experience of a few years convinced me that his basis was too narrow, which induced me to betake myself to the study of a new foundation, upon which I built with better success. This new method I published under the title of "Art's Advancement," which has found no unkind treatment in the world, as appears by the considerable numbers that have been printed for more than twenty years together.  

Not yet content with the progress I had made in cultivating this art, I applied myself to the further improvement of it, and persuade myself that the method I now publish, which I taught in manuscript for fifteen years past, has brought it many degrees nearer to perfection than any that has yet been exposed to the world.”

William Mason learned shorthand as a youth, probably around 1659. In 1672 he published A Pen Plucked from an Eagle's Wing, a system based on Rich’s The Pen’s Dexterity. Dissatisfied with it, Mason developed a new system based on a “new foundation,” and published it as Art's Advancement in 1682.

Mason “applied [himself] to the further improvement” of his system and published a corrected and enlarged edition of Art's Advancement in 1687.  Not satisfied, he improved it further and started teaching the manuscript form of  La Plume Volante in 1692. Lastly, Mason published La Plume Volante in 1707.

1707 La Plume Volante:
Mason’s 1707 La Plume Volante ran through five editions. The Fifth Edition, “with the addition of the terms of the Law and much amended,” was published in 1719.



Vowel Expression:
Initial vowels were expressed by alphabet sign. Medial vowels were expressed by “Vowel Mode” using the following three positions based on spelling or best represented sound. Therefore, the three positions expressed short and long vowels and diphthongs. Final vowels were expressed by a dot in the Vowel Mode position.



Other:
The system had many “rules:” 17 terminative (suffix) rules, 25 rules of contraction, and abbreviating rules. The student needed to memorize 64 prepositions and suffixes as well as 423 arbitraries and symbols.


References:

1. Dictionary of National Biography. 2nd Edition. 1901, Vol. 12, Pages 1322.
2. The History of Short-hand Writing by Matthias Levy. 1862. Pages 50-2.
3. The Story of British Shorthand by Edward H. Butler. 1951. Pages 40, 57, 61, and 206.
4. “A Critical and Historical Account of the Art of Shorthand” The National Stenographer. Apr 1892.
5. La Plume Volante. (5th Ed, 1734).