Genealogy Resources
Handwriting and Script
- Bentz, Edna. If I Can You Can Decipher Germanic Records.
San Diego, California: Hyperion Records, 2001. Includes the
Gothic alphabet, variations of letters, and common genealogical
words.
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Deciphering Old Handwriting
- English
Handwriting, 1500-1700: An Online Course. From Cambridge
University.
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Examples of 17th Century Handwriting
- Kirkham, Kay. The Handwriting of American Records for a
Period of 300 Years. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 1976.
Includes foreign alphabets, a glossary, and legal terminology.
- Marshall, Hilary. Paleography for Family and Local
Historians. Chicester: Phillimore, 2004. Has examples of
English documents of varying difficulty from 14001700 including
parish registers, wills, and court rolls.
- Martin, Charles Trice. The Record Interpreter: A
Collection of Abbreviations, Latin Words and Names Used in
English Historical Manuscripts and Records. London: Stevens
& Sons, Ltd., 1910, reprinted 1976, 1982.
- Minert, Roger. Deciphering Handwriting in German
Documents; Analyzing German, Latin and French in Vital Records
Written in Germany. Has examples of handwriting in
German-speaking regions of Europe including Latin, French,
Fraktur and Sütterlin Script. Woods Cross, Utah: GRT
Publications, 2001.
- Palmer, A.N. Palmer's Guide to Business Writing.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Western Penmanship Publishing Co., 1894.
His guidelines and script were used by over 25 million Americans
by 1925.
- Sperry, Kip. Reading Early American Handwriting.
Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2005, 1998. A
standard reference with illustrations of letter forms and images
of documents with translations in facing pages, and a
bibliography.
- Stryker-Rodda, Harriet. Understanding Colonial
Handwriting, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1986, 1980. Has examples of letter forms and script, name
forms, and signatures.
- Thornton, Tamara Plakins. Handwriting in America: A
Cultural History, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University
Press, 1996. Surveys aspects of handwriting from colonial times
to the present.