General Resource Sites

• Ancestry.com - Learning Center - Learn More 
  Thousands of FREE, searchable how-to articles from Ancestry.com publications such as Ancestry Magazine, the Ancestry Weekly Discovery and the Ancestry Monthly Update.
  • Searching with Dots and Umlauts 
    Article by Michael John Neill.
• Deciphering Old Handwriting 
  • Examples of Marks 
  • How the "leading s" looks in old documents 
  • Old Style Abbreviations - Proper Names 
  • Old Style Abbreviations - Places of Birth 
  • Old Style Lettering - Occupations 
• English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course 
• Examples of Letters of the 17th Century Found in Parish Registers 
• Handwriting. 16th and 17th Century English 
• Historical Writing 
  Specialized research on the interpretation of historical writing.
• Latin and Palaeography: History, Keele University 
  This week-long, annual summer school, run by the Department of History at the University of Keele, provides expert tuition in small groups for professional and amateur historians, genealogists, archive students, and postgraduate researchers who wish to acquire or improve their skills in reading and transcribing medieval and early modern documents from English archives, relating to both national and local subjects.
• Medieval Paleography - An Introduction 
• Name and Word Spellings 
  Includes a brief explanation of errors caused by handwriting.
• The National Archives | Palaeography tutorial (how to read old handwriting)  ~ United Kingdom
  An online tutorial for reading English handwriting appearing in records from 1500 to 1800. Provides tips on how to read old handwriting. Includes interactive tutorials providing practice in reading scanned documents while giving real-time feedback on your accuracy.
  • Where to Start 
  • Quick Reference 
  • Tutorial 
  • Further Practice 
• Old Handwriting-Introduction 
  Article by Roy Colbert with sample letter forms.
• Palaeography - Reading Early Handwriting 
  Online tutorial with examples.
• Searching Old Records--Reading Old Handwriting and Looking for Names 
• Script Tutorials - Paleography, Old Documents, and Family History Research 
  Resources for old handwriting and documents in English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
• Tutorials for Reading Old German, French and English Handwriting, Naming Systems 

Locality Specific

• AAD ABIES 
  AAD ABIES provides German>English/Latin>English translation and transcription of modern and historical handwriting.
• Alphabets - and handwriting styles  ~ Denmark
  • Alphabet appr. 1600 
  • Alphabet 1700 - capital letters 
  • http://www.sa.dk/lak/brugearkivet/famhist/alphabet/1700smaa.htm 
  • Alphabet 1800 - calligraphic 
  • Alphabet 1800 - ordinary 
• Fraktur Deciphered 
• Fraktur and German Script 
• Genealogical dictionary 
  Examples and translations of Danish handwriting.
• German Translation Service, translators of the Old German Scripts 
• Handwriting Guide: German Gothic 
• Here you can learn Suetterlin - the "German handwriting" 
  Excellent online tutorial on the German script and handwriting including an alphabet and scanned examples of documents.
• Moravians - German Script Tutorial 
  With Moravian Archival examples
  • German Script Alphabet 
• OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List 
  For deciphering and interpreting documents from the British Isles, from earliest times to about 1900. This list is intended for genealogists, family and local historians, etc. Archives: browse or search.
• Old German Handwritten Scripts 
• The Old German Handwriting 
• On-line kurs i gotisk handskrift 
  Free Norwegian on-line course in Gothic handwriting.
• Scottish Handwriting 
  Online tutorial with scanned examples and helpful tips from the Scottish Archives Network.
• Script Tutorials - Paleography, Old Documents, and Family History Research 
  Resources for old handwriting and documents in English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
• Vertalingen van Latijns naar het Nederlands 
  A dictionary for translating Latin genealogical words to the Dutch language.

Mailing Lists, Newsgroups & Chat

• Genealogy Resources on the Internet - Translations and Word Origins Mailing Lists 
  Most of the mailing list links below point to this site, wonderfully maintained by John Fuller. John indexes links for all known genealogy mailing lists, including RootsWeb and others.
• RootsWeb: Genealogy Mailing Lists: Translations and Word Origins 
  The majority of genealogy mailing lists are hosted by RootsWeb.com. Messages on RootsWeb lists are archived. The links to RootsWeb below point you to the archives (browse or search).

• GEN-Documents Mailing List 
  For the discussion and sharing of information related to the reading of old British documents such as parish registers, wills, etc., including old handwriting and Latin.
• LATIN-WORDS Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical or historical interest in deciphering and interpreting written documents in Latin from earliest to most recent 20th Century times, and discussing old Latin words, phrases, names, abbreviations and antique jargon. Archives: browse or search.
• OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List 
  For anyone who is deciphering old English documents to discuss interpretations of handwriting and word meanings. Archives: browse or search.
• OLD-FRENCH Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical or historical interest in deciphering and interpreting written documents in French from earliest to most recent 20th Century times, and discussing old French words, phrases, names, abbreviations and antique jargon. Archives: browse or search.
• OLD-GERMAN Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical or historical interest in deciphering and interpreting written documents in German from earliest to most recent 20th Century times, and discussing old German words, phrases, names, abbreviations and antique jargon. Archives: browse or search.
• OLD-RUSSIAN Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical or historical interest in deciphering and interpreting written documents in Russian from earliest to most recent 20th Century times, and discussing old Russian words, phrases, names, abbreviations and antique jargon. Archives: browse or search.
• OLD-WORDS Mailing List 
  For the discussion of old words, phrases, names, abbreviations, and antique jargon useful to genealogy. Archives: browse or search.
• PolishLessons Mailing List 
  For Poland researchers in translating Polish documents and to further their research while visiting/researching in Poland. Archives: browse or search.
• TRANSLATIONS Mailing List 
  For anyone who can help others, or desires help, in the translation of documents that directly support genealogical research efforts. Archives: browse or search.

Professional Researchers, Volunteers & Other Research Services

• EmilyWilbur.com - Genealogy Researcher 
  Research conducted at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Britsh Isles (England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland), Medieval British Genealogy, Paleography (old English), United States (New England).
• German Translation Service for Old German Handwriting 
  Translators of handwritten documents in the old German scripts.
• My Ain Folk - Professional Scottish Family History Research 
  Scottish family history and genealogy research. Palaeography service for transcribing old documents.

Publications, Software & Supplies

• Cyndi's List Genealogy Bookstore 
  A categorized list of genealogy research books that looks a lot like my bookshelf at home.

• Amazon.com Genealogy Bookstore - Handwriting 
  The following are individual book titles of interest for this topic. The book links below point to the Amazon.com bookstore online where you may purchase the book if you wish. These links are provided to bring these published resources to your attention as an aid to your research. Follow the links to books of interest to make note of their title, author, publisher, and ISBN. You might then use this information to obtain the book from your local library or your favorite corner book shop.
  • Discovering Old Handwriting 
    A book by John Barrett.
  • Elements of Abbreviation in Medieval Latin Paleography 
    A book by Adriano Cappelli.
  • English Handwriting, 1400-1650: An Introductory Manual 
    A book by Jean F. Preston.
  • Genealogical research in England and Wales vol. 3: Old English Handwriting, Latin, Research Standards and Procedures 
    A book by David E Gardner
  • Handwriting in America : A Cultural History 
    A book by Tamara Plakins Thornton.
  • If I Can You Can Decipher Germanic Records 
    A book by Edna Bentz.
  • The Old Handwriting and Names of Denmark and Norway 
    A book by Finn A. Thomsen.
  • Pen, Ink, & Evidence: A Study of Writing and Writing Materials for the Penman, Collector, and Document Detective 
    A book by Joe Nickell.
  • Reading Early American Handwriting 
    A book by Kip Sperry.
  • Reading Old Handwriting 
    A book by Eve McLaughlin.
  • Scottish Handwriting, 1150-1650: An Introduction to the Reading of Documents 
    A book by Grant G. Simpson.
  • Scottish Handwriting, 1150-1650: An Introduction to the Reading of Documents 
    A book by Grant G. Simpson.
  • Understanding Colonial Handwriting 
    A book by Harriet Stryker-Rodda.
• Deutsch <-> Englisches Wörterbuch 
• Family Tree Press - German Genealogy Records 
  The German Researcher and Deciphering Gothic Records - research guides.
• Society of Genealogists Bookshop: Handwriting  ~ U.K.
  Publications for sale.
• Walden Font 
  Several different fonts for sale, including: The Gutenberg Press German Fraktur Fonts and German Script.

Signatures & Autographs

• Beyond the Index--Michael John Neill's Articles in the Ancestry Daily News 
  • Ancestral Signatures: Part II 
  • In their Own Hand (Getting Ancestral Signatures) 
    Tips on types of records that might help a researcher find the handwritten signature of their ancestor.
  • My Ancestor's John Hancock 
    This article discusses ways to locate signatures of deceased family members.
• Fine Line Graphology 
  Through handwriting analysis, you can get to know those people in the faded family photos. Verify or put to rest those fantastic family stories about your ancestors.
• Graphology Information Centre 
  Graphology research and reading.
• SignatureHelp.com 
  Index of artists based on the signatures they used to sign their work.
• Signatures in Genealogy by Michael John Neill 
  This site has links to over twenty images of actual signatures which site visitors can try to read and then view the answers.

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