Throughout its history, different forms of Gregg shorthand have been published. All the versions use the same alphabet and basic principles, but they differ in degrees of abbreviation and, as a result, speed. The 1916 version is generally the fastest and most abbreviated version. Series 90 Gregg has the smallest degree of abbreviation, but it is also generally the slowest standard version of Gregg. Though each version differs in its level of abbreviation, most versions have expert and reporting versions for writers who desire more shortcuts. Many versions of this system were published. Several of these versions were given names:
Anniversary (published in 1929),
Gregg Shorthand Simplified (1949),
Diamond Jubilee (1963), and
Series 90 (1978). The last version was
Centennial, published in 1988. Versions published before 1929 are often referred to as Pre-Anniversary. These versions are described below in this article. Besides the main editions, a number of simpler, personal-use editions were published from 1924 to 1968. These included "Greghand" in 1935, and "Notehand" in 1960 and 1968.
Pre-Anniversary Gregg shorthand Gregg Shorthand was first published in England 1888 by John Robert Gregg under the title
Light Line Phonography; however, it was in a very primal stage. Due to its rough-and-ready character and the fact that Pitman shorthand was well established there, it did not gain much success. Five years later, in 1893, a second edition of the manual with an improved version of the system was published in the USA, then in a third edition titled
Gregg Shorthand in 1897. The fourth edition, published in 1902, developed more shortcuts. The fifth edition, published in 1916, is the version most commonly referred to as "Pre-Anniversary" Gregg shorthand; this version has the largest number of brief forms, phrases, and shortcuts.
Gregg Shorthand Anniversary Edition In 1929 another version of Gregg shorthand was published. This system reduced the memory load on its learners by decreasing the number of brief forms and removing uncommon prefixes. It was intended to have been published in 1928 on the 40th anniversary of the system, but it was published a year afterward due to a delay in its production.
Gregg Shorthand Simplified Gregg Shorthand Simplified was published in 1949. This system drastically reduced the number of brief forms that needed to be memorized to only 181. Even with this reduction in the number of brief forms, one could still reach speeds upward of 150
WPM. The system was simplified to directly address the need of business stenographers, who only needed to produce 100–120 WPM transcription. The creator of an advanced reporting version of Gregg Shorthand, Charles Lee Swem, wrote in
The National Shorthand Reporter, "An abbreviated, simplified edition of our system has been published and accepted for the purpose of training office stenographers, and not necessarily reporters." He also advised, "I do not believe any young student should hesitate to study Simplified for fear it will jeopardize his chances of becoming a reporter. It is fundamentally the same system as we reporters learned from the Anniversary edition. Once Simplified is learned, the change-over to the reporting style is comparatively simple and can be made by any writer."
Gregg Shorthand Diamond Jubilee Edition The Diamond Jubilee series was published through most of the 1960s and the 1970s (1963–1977). It was simpler than the Simplified version, and reduced the number of brief forms to 129. For
Diamond Jubilee students who wanted to increase speed for reporting, an edition of "Expert"
Diamond Jubilee was available to push speeds upward.
Gregg Shorthand Series 90 Series 90 (1978–1987) was an even simpler version, which used a minimal number of brief forms and placed a great emphasis on clear transcription, rather than reporting speed. Although it introduced a couple of new abbreviations and reintroduced some short forms that were missing in Diamond Jubilee, it eliminated several other short forms, and was in the main simpler, longer, and slower than the previous editions. Shorthand was dwindling in popularity during this series' usage.
Gregg Shorthand Centennial Edition Published in 1988, this is the most recent series of Gregg shorthand. It was the only version since the Pre-Anniversary edition of 1916 to increase the complexity of the system from the previous one, having 132 brief forms.
Other versions The above versions of Gregg shorthand were marketed for professional use, such as business and court reporting.
Gregg Shorthand Junior Manual, designed for junior high school students, was published in 1927 and 1929.
Greghand, A Simple Phonetic Writing for Everyday Use by Everyone was published as a pamphlet in 1935. The 1960 and 1968 editions of
Gregg Notehand focused on how to take effective classroom and personal notes using a simple form of Gregg shorthand. ==Adaptations==