• Home
• Study
• Study Information
• Modules
• Module Information

An Introduction to Early Modern English Palaeography

Module description

This module offers an introduction to early modern palaeography – the skill of reading handwritten documents from the period 1500-1750. Palaeography unlocks a wealth of archival manuscripts for the postgraduate researcher in disciplines ranging from History and Politics to English Literature, Drama, and Visual Culture. The module is suitable for both complete beginners and those wishing to improve their palaeography skills. After a brief introductory lecture, the module is structured around practical workshops in which, with guidance from the tutor, students collectively transcribe a varied selection of documents. Workshops also include discussion of a range of issues related to handwritten historical documents.

Module aims - intentions of the module

After an introduction to types of handwriting, letter forms, abbreviations, and the process of transcription, the module is structured around practical workshops. These teach the skill of reading and interpreting handwritten documents from the early modern England. The workshops also include discussion of document types, early modern vocabulary, and the challenges of archival research as well as palaeography. This provides preparation for MA and doctoral dissertations based on analysing handwritten documents from the early modern period, allowing students to tackle original sources with confidence.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Read and transcribe handwritten English documents from the 1500-1750 period
• 2. Recognise and interpret types of hand, letter forms, spelling and abbreviations commonly used in early modern England
• 3. Understand how to approach the transcription of difficult handwriting and damaged documents

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Familiarity with a range of historical documents and the information they contain
• 5. How to approach archival research relating to England in the period 1500-1750

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Research skills: how to approach and analyse difficult sources of information in a calm and systematic manner
• 7. Research skills: how to a keep clear and orderly record of your research

Syllabus plan

The course begins with a short introductory lecture about types of handwriting, letter forms, abbreviations, spelling and common problems encountered when reading handwritten historical documents. This is followed by five workshops in which documents are transcribed, line by line, under the guidance of the tutor. The documents read vary from year to year but are likely to include account books, wills and inventories, letters, commonplace books, and legal documents. The workshops begin with relatively the clear handwriting encountered in c.1700 and move back in time to the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries. The workshops also include discussion of types of documents, locating documents in physical archives and digital archives, and interpreting the physical form and layout of documents.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as defined above. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Hilary Marshall, Palaeography for Family and Local Historians (Phillimore, 2010)
• Giles Dawson and Laetitia Kennedy-Skipton, Elizabethan Handwriting, 1500-1650: A Guide to Reading Documents and Manuscripts (Phillimore, 1981)
• Laura Sangha and Jonathan Wills ed. Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources (Routledge, 2016)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – Faculty to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
• The National Archives, Palaeography: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/palaeography/
• Early Modern Manuscripts Online (EMMO), Folger Shakespeare Library: https://emmo.folger.edu/
• English Handwriting Online 1500-1700: https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/
• Oxford English Dictionary Online (via the library database collection): https://www.oed.com/ 

Key words search

Palaeography, Handwriting, Manuscripts, Early Modern, Documents, England