Abstract: A handwriting recognition device comprises a transducer surface responsive to a pen positioned thereon for representing the coordinate position of the pen as an electrical signal, and data processing means for recognizing a handwriting effected with the pen, the data processing means including a microprocessor based control controlling a read/write memory, a non-volatile read-only memory storing a handwriting recognition routine to store recognized handwriting in the read/write memory, and an interface communicating to a host computer system a representation of the recognized character. A visual display may be provided coupled to a display interface and an input information for receiving verified recognized handwriting communicated from the host computer system.