Reading old handwriting
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The technical term for reading old handwriting is palaeography.
In order to transcribe handwritten records accurately, the family historian needs to develop some skill in this area.
Useful websites
- Tips for reading old handwriting Help & Advice Centre, Ancestry
- 11 Tips For Reading Old Handwriting findmypast blog.
- Useful Tips for Reading Handwritten Documents NSW Government State Archives and Records website
- Palaeography: reading old handwriting 1500 – 1800 A practical online tutorial The National Archives, Kew.
- Tips and resources for reading Elizabethan secretary hand Article Id: 1497 April 20, 2020. FamilySearch Help. "Secretary hand" developed in Europe during the early 16th century (1500s) as an easily legible style of handwriting for court and other government business.
- Handwriting Helps: English, a FamilySearch indexing Help page, with links to a Guide.
- Images: Given Name Handwriting Abbreviations – mostly from John Empoliti uploaded to FamilySearch Community. Click on an image to enlarge.
- Copperplate Victorian Hand Writing Causeway Museum Service, now an archived webpage.
- A Guide to Reading Old Handwriting in relation to Postal History by allanoliver1937@msn.com, now an archived webpage at archive.org. Click on the date March 30, 2016 to access, and note it is a download which you may need to locate in your downloads folder.
- Deciphering Old Handwriting by Sabina J. Murray
- Brigham Young University Script Tutorials Guidance in deciphering old handwriting styles. Languages covered include English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
- Scottish Handwriting Website offering assistance in understanding historical documents written in Scotland in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. There is a "Palaeography Poser" taken from an old manuscript which helps test your skills (answers given!). With links to Tutorials, including a one hour basic tutorial on Secretary Hand. From National Records of Scotland.
- Examples of different handwriting styles Google Search
- English Handwriting Online 1500-1700: an online course, with links to 28 Lessons, with difficulty rating 1 to 5, based on documents from Cambridge University Colleges, with transcriptions provided. A CERES COPIA project (Cambridge English Renaissance Electronic Service (CERES)).
