Old Writing, New Worlds: Early Modern Palaeography

Course goals

By the end of this course, you have gained some proficiency in the transcribing of early modern manuscripts in English. This includes the ability to read secretary hand, italic hands, as well as mixed hands. This course is essential to those scholars in fields such as literary history, legal history, political history, art history, cultural studies, socio-economic history, and historical linguistics. 

Content

In this palaeography course, we will read documents from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, ranging from letters by Queen Elizabeth I, to cookbooks, letters by students to their parents, clothing bills, and everything in between. It allows a unique view into the personal lives of people living three centuries ago, showing that these people had similar concerns to us - money, love, family, or ambition. The ability to study these hands and to transcribe these sources accurately allows the opening up of this period, and to come rather close to its material legacy as well as its people. It also could open up a life-long love for old documents and their transcriptions. Some sessions will take place in the archive. 

Additional information

Please note: the time slot shown here is not yet final and may still be modified until the 3rd Wednesday in September.