The version of Gregg shorthand Aurelia learned depends on when she learned it, and that is not yet known. The first Gregg shorthand textbook, a pamphlet titled Light Line Phonography: The Phonetic Handwriting (1888) was published in England by John Robert Gregg in an edition of 500 copies, and in the U.S. in 1898 as a book, Gregg’s Shorthand Manual. Succeeding editions presented refinements—the 1929 edition is the most lauded—but the 1949 edition had a new title: Gregg Shorthand Manual Simplified. “Simplified” emphasized speed and accurate transcription. All earlier versions of Gregg shorthand are called “pre-Simplified.” The 1949 version would have appeared during Aurelia Plath's business-school teaching career, when she was 43.
I was taught from the eighth edition, called
the Diamond Jubilee Series (1963-1977), edited to “make shorthand easier to
learn.” Even so it wasn’t easy to learn: in
high school I studied it for two years.
The Gregg
shorthand versions Aurelia learned or taught await discovery. But last autumn in Sylvia’s
archives I saw and read Aurelia’s
annotations (they are of textbook quality) and think that they will be of
interest when transcribed.