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erasing, rubbing and puttering — something be done
 

      Before we can plan a system of teaching drawing, that will enable us to attain the ultimate end in view, we must come to an understanding of what is to be the immediate end ; that is, is it to be the immediate end to have each pupil execute each drawing by a tediously labored process of erasing and puttering ? or is it to have the average pupil understand the power and use of lines, and to know what he is doing, what he is doing it for, and be able to execute actual problems, and express or illustrate actual things promptly and effectually, as he uses his [392] knowledge of arithmetic, and his ability to write in every-day life ? I should say the latter; for, if there is any one thing that stands in the way of the successful teaching of drawing, it is the feeling on the part of parents, teachers, pupils and the public generally, that there must be, at each stage of the process, something pretty to show; and, perhaps, — by the teachers doing the more difficult parts, and the pupils doing an indefinite amount of rubbing and puttering — something be done, by the more apt of the pupils, which will be worthy the adulation of admiring friends and an elaborate frame. For my part, I think that there has been quite enough of this done already.

Frank Aborn, Cleveland, “A System of Teaching Drawing for the Common Schools” in Essays and Addresses Read before the North-Eastern Ohio Teachers’ Association (Cleveland, 1876) : 379-412 (391, 392)
via archive.org : link
 

Frank Aborn (1845-1915) authored several books on technical drawing, some going through several editions/printings. These include :

  1. Teachers’ Manual of Object Drawing (1874)
  2. Teacher’s Guide in Straight Line Object Drawing (1875)
  3. Elementary Language Lessons in Drawing (1879)
  4. Elementary Mechanical Drawing, for School and Shop (1886)
    hathitrust : link
  5. The Cleveland Teachers’ Manual of Object Drawing (1889)
    google books : link
    same (via hathitrust) : link
  6. Teachers’ Manual of Primary Exercises in Drawing (1896)
  7. A Handbook of Systematic Instruction in Drawing (1903)
    hathitrust : link
  8. Mechanical Triangulation in Free Hand Drawing (1906)
  9. “The Avoidance of Difficulty in Teaching Drawing,” in The New England Journal of Education (January 4, 1912) : 19-20 : link

    some patents, too (all links to google) :

  10. 282,831 “Developing or Tracing Machine” (August 7, 1883) : link
  11. 499,193 “Compass Joint” (June 13, 1893) : link
  12. 715,451 “Apparatus for Facilitating Drawing” (December 9, 1902) : link

—

Frank Aborn (1845-1915), buried at Mt Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts
findagrave : link
 

5 February 2025