Handwriting & Script » General Resources

BabelStone: The Rules for Long S

BYU's Script Tutorial - Making Sense of Old Handwriting

English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Latin.

Deciphering Old Handwriting

English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course

Examples of Letters of the 17th Century Found in Parish Registers

FamilySearch - Help Center - Lessons ^FREE

Hundreds of free online genealogy courses. Enter a keyword in the search box to see a list of lessons for that topic.

FamilySearch Learning Center - Reading English Handwritten Records Lesson 1: English Secretary Hand Letters

In this lesson you will explore the letters of the Secretary Hand, the style of handwriting found in many of the English and colonial records created during the 1500s and 1600s.

FamilySearch Learning Center - Reading English Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Dates and Latin Words

In this lesson, you will explore abbreviations, different ways that dates were recorded, and Latin words that are commonly found in English and colonial records.

FamilySearch Learning Center - Reading English Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading Secretary Hand Documents

In this lesson, you will explore several types of English genealogical records, including parish registers, bishop's transcripts, probate records, and court records.

Findmypast - 11 Tips For Reading Old Handwriting

Future Learn - Early Modern Scottish Palaeography: Reading Scotland's Records

On this course you’ll travel back through Scottish history by studying material from the National Records of Scotland. You’ll explore diverse topics in Scotland’s past, get an introduction to various forms of historical sources and develop your own palaeography skills.

Genealogy Transcriber

One quick handwriting transcription challenge every day-for the genealogist in you.

Genealogy.com - Name and Word Spellings

Includes a brief explanation of errors caused by handwriting.

GenealogyMagazine, Episode 5: Graphology for Genealogists

How handwriting analysis proves to be an insightful tool for the family historian.

Handwriting. 16th and 17th Century English

Helps for reading older handwriting

What help is available for identifying difficult handwriting? What does the double "S" look like in early handwriting?

Historical Writing

Specialized research on the interpretation of historical writing.

Latin and Palaeography Summer School - 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

Old Handwriting-Introduction

This article was found in the Will-Grundy Counties, Illinois Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume XVII, Number 1, 1998 - one of many publications where it has been reprinted.