Palaeography for Family and Local Historians

I really liked this pricey paperback book on Paleography, or how to read old handwriting mainly from the 1500s to the 1700s. The author shows how letters of the alphabet were written and looked different in days gone by. Two thirds of the book is made up of various documents with full transcripts if them so you can have a go at trying to decicher them yourself. I noticed that the documents from the 1700s were much easier to read than the earlier ones, and that the further you go back the more difficult it is to read old handwriting. My only gripe is the lack of information about how to read documents in Latin, which would have been useful too. None the less a great addition for family historians.

A good quality paperback book containing appropriate illustrations, commentaries and translations. This is a book which endeavours to help those of us unfamiliar with old fashioned cursive script and letter forms. That this author knows her subject well is evident throughout the book.Despite the considerable help I know is held within the pages of this tome, I still have difficulty in attempting to transcribe documents from the mid to late 1700's. I believe the reason for this difficulty lies within myself as there is a necessity to have some idea of what particular squiggle one is attempting to translate before finding it in the book. It is exceedingly difficult to do this in reverse. The individual 'hand' of each manuscript author, period of writing and locality contributes to the variety and this is covered by the extensive section on the characteristics of individual letters.This is not an easy read but is a definite aid to understanding.

Arrived quickly ready for the start of a new course. Looks interesting, easy to read dialogue with plenty of photos of examples of documents.

A superb guide to palaeography for historians, genealogists and others. The core of the book is a selection of documents with transcripts and translation (for Latin documents) or commentary. These are preceded by chapters on differences between classical and medieval Latin, symbols used for abbreviations, and the different forms individual letters of the alphabet can take.

This is a very good book for historians needing to understand how to transcribe late medieval and early modern manuscripts. Comprehensive and easy to read. It has an explanation of the differences between medieval and classical Latin; the symbols used for abbreviations in manuscripts and an Anglo-Norman French vocabulary.Historians and students studying the 10th -13th century will probably need to refer to additional texts by Bischoff, Gosden, Charles Trice Martin, Sidwell, Thorley and Thoyts for examples of earlier script styles (e.g. court hands and Caroline miniscule script).A good companion to Eileen Gooder's Latin for Local Historians. Marshall's book is good value for money.

Contains a long line of examples of each letter from around 1400 to 1800 with examples of transcriptions, notation and explanations in an easily digestable form. We're finding it very useful in our small group at present transcribing documents between 1707 & 1790 - especially as some of the forms of the letters appear to be very early forms (hot cross bun letter C for example). We have lots of previous examples from the course we all did on Transcribing old documents, but this brings things together in one small resource.

Excellent copy of a book required by my degree course. Super condition and arrived very promptly.

An excellent reference book on Palaeography for translation and interpretation of Manor Rolls

Great book for Palaeography!! Highly recomend

The book incudes clearly photographed old documents, some word for word "translations, and many examamples of individual letters. It includes tips for 'decoding' which of several 'possible' letters is the most likely in context. Careful study onf this book should solve many problems associated with old documents.

The book has already helped me in my online class!