Latin | Print
- Paleografia latina : l'avventura grafica del mondo occidentale byCall Number: Z114 .C52 2010ISBN: 9788885054202Publication Date: 2010
Reading Medieval Latin by ISBN: 0521442397Publication Date: 1995- The Elements of Abbreviation in Medieval Latin Paleography byCall Number: Z111.C264Publication Date: 1982
Lexicon abbreviaturarum : dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane usate nelle carte e codici specialmente del Medio-Evo, riprodotte con oltre 14000 segni incisi, con l'aggiunta di uno studio sulla brachigrafia medioevale, un prontuario di sigle epig by Call Number: Z111.C29 1985ISBN: 8820311003Publication Date: 1985
French | Print
- Lire le français d'hier : manuel de paléographie moderne, XVe-XVIIIe siècle byCall Number: Z115.F8A92 2001ISBN: 2200261519Publication Date: 2001
- Lire les écritures anciennes : comment s'entraîner : album de paléographie, textes et transitions byCall Number: Z115.F7B389 1989Publication Date: 1989
Dictionnaire de Paleographie Francaise by Call Number: Z115.F7B83 2016ISBN: 9782251693019Publication Date: 2016
Manuel de Paleographie Francaise by Call Number: Z115.F7B834 2016ISBN: 9782251693026Publication Date: 2016- Aide-mémoire pour débutant en paléographie : graphique de lettres, chiffres, abréviations et mots recueillis dans des textes manuscrits du XVIIeme siècle byCall Number: Z115.F7L42 1993ISBN: 290617484XPublication Date: 1993
English | Print
- English Vernacular Hands from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries byCall Number: Z115.E5W92Publication Date: 1960
- English Cursive Book Hands, 1250-1500 byCall Number: Z115.E5P25 1980ISBN: 0520040805Publication Date: 1980
Italian | Print
Medioevo da leggere : guida allo studio delle testimonianze scritte del Medioevo italiano by Call Number: PQ4072.P47 1992ISBN: 8806129953Publication Date: 1992
Writers and Readers in Medieval Italy by Call Number: Z1003.5.I8P480 1995ISBN: 0300060890Publication Date: 1995- Esempi di scritture cancelleresche, curiali e minuscole byCall Number: f Z115.I8M48Publication Date: 1972
- La scrittura delle cancellerie Italiane dal secolo XII al XVII : Fac-simili per le scuole di paleografia degli Archivi di stato byCall Number: f Z115.I8F29Publication Date: 1934
- Abbreviature o cifre più comuni fra i mercatantiCall Number: microfm HB30.G64 1974Publication Date: 1974*Microform.
Spanish | Print
- Paleografía y escritura hispánica byCall Number: Z115.S7 P35 2016ISBN: 9788490772591Publication Date: 2016
- La escritura y lo escrito : paleografía y diplomática de España y América en los siglos XVI y XVII byCall Number: Z115.S7C74 1986ISBN: 8472323935Publication Date: 1986
- Paleografía española : ensayo de una historia de la escritura en España desde el siglo VIII al XVII byCall Number: Z115.S7M64 1929Publication Date: 1929
- Paleografía visigoda : método teórico-práctico para aprender a leer los codices y documentos españoles de los siglos V al XII byCall Number: Z115.S7M97 1919Publication Date: 1919
German | Print
- "Thun kund und zu wissen jedermänniglich" : Paläographie, archivalische Textsorten, Aktenkunde byCall Number: Z115.G3E35 1999ISBN: 3792717964Publication Date: 1999
- Schrifttafeln zur deutschen Paläographie des 16.-20. Jahrhunderts byCall Number: Z115.G3D85 c.1Publication Date: 1967
- Germanistische Handschriftenpraxis : ein Lehrbuch für die Studierenden der deutschen Philologie byCall Number: Z115.G3K58Publication Date: 1950
Paleography
Introduction
Paleography is the study of the forms and processes of handwriting and an invaluable skill for transcribing and interpreting manuscripts. A wide range of different writing styles exist based on language and historical period. Many universities and cultural institutions offer classes and workshops dedicated to the study of paleography. This page is meant to serve as a starting point for accessing both print and digital tutorials on paleography.
Selected Print manuals for paleography can be found in the left column and are drawn from the library collection. They include both recent publications and older, but standard guides. Digital resources are located in the center column and include links to tutorials for deciphering script, and online courses. Resources are listed by language in the following order: Latin, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese, and German.
MS McClean 160, folio 139; humanistic miniscule font. Antonio Sinibaldi, Gothic. LUNA: https://tinyurl.com/ycfpxg34 (Uchicago login required.)
Latin Paleography | Digital
- Latin Paleography, National ArchivesOnline tutorial designed to help users learn to read the handwriting found in documents written in Latin between 1086 and 1500. The tutorial is for those already familiar with medieval Latin.
- EnigmaOnline database designed to help scholars to Latin words which are difficult to read in medieval manuscripts.
- Adriano Capelli's Guide to Medieval Latin AbbreviationsWebsite featuring a chart containing common Latin abbreviations. Additional links on the page provide further information about abbreviations and truncated words (these sections are in Italian).
- Charte | Paléographie médievaleThis blog provides access to tutorials and practice examples for latin vernacular paleography (in French).
- Album interactif de paléographie médiévalOnline transcription exercises for Latin medieval documents organized by level of difficulty. The site permits users to enter responses word by word in individual windows. It also includes a key to transcribing the document and links to further resources like abbreviations.
- Paléographie latineDigitized edition of Franz Steffens' manual to Latin paleography (Trèves, Paris, 1910; in French). Hosted by the Istituto Centrale degli Archivi.
- Paléographie des classiques latins | University of IllinoisA paleography manual by Émile Chatelain digitized by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. was produced in 14 fascicles between 1884 and 1900, and consists of more than 200 facsimiles of leaves from medieval manuscripts, with explanatory text.
- Bartholomew's World Paleography Tutorial, Stanford UniversityDigital paleography tutorial that takes users step-by-step through identifying individual letters. Texts are drawn from the writing of Bartholomeus Anglicus.
French Paleography | Digital
- Newberry - University of Toronto French Paleography ProjectCollaborative paleography project in French Renaissance texts between the Newberry Library and the University of Toronto.
- French Script Tutorial, Brigham Young UniversityOnline tutorial for French paleography between 1500 and 1800. Includes examples, glossary, and historical background.
- Theleme Techniques pour l'Historien en Ligne : Études, Manuels, Exercices, BibliographiesThe Sorbonne's online course offers an introduction to French hand-press print typography, and medieval and early modern paleography (handwriting) instruction, in French, with lessons and a set of interactive exemplary texts.
- Cours de paléographie | Archive du cours d'AritsumArchive of online course developed for paleography tutorial in French, includes lessons.
- Theleme: Techniques pour l'Historien en Ligne : Études, Manuels, Exercices, BibliographiesWebsite hosted by the École de chartes containing online exercises, bibliographies, abbreviation dictionaries, and pages from digitized manuscripts. (In French)
- Album interactif de paléographie médiévalOnline transcription exercises for French medieval documents organized by level of difficulty. The site permits users to enter responses word by word in individual windows. It also includes a key to transcribing the document and links to further resources like abbreviations.
English, Irish, and Scottish Paleography | Digital
- English Handwriting 1500-1700, University of CambridgeDigital course including bibliographies, alphabets, sample transcriptions, and index of manuscript images.
- English Script Tutorial, Brigham Young UniversityThis tutorial is designed to introduce users to the various hands used between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in much of the English-speaking world. It also provides tools to interpret manuscripts.
- Paleography: Reading Old Handwriting 1500-1800, National ArchivesThis web tutorial helps users learn to read the handwriting found in documents written in English between 1500 and 1800.
- Digipal | Digital Resource and DatabaseOpen-access resource for the study of medieval handwriting, particularly that produced in England during the years 1000–1100, the time of Æthelred, Cnut the Great, and William the Conqueror. Designed to allow users to see samples of handwriting from the period and to compare them quickly and easily.
- InScribe: Paleography and Manuscript StudiesOnline course covering medieval paleography instruction, transcribing, and information about identifying and dating manuscripts.
- Scottish HandwritingWebsite offering online tutorials in Scottish paleography for documents written in Scotland in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
- Medieval ScribesOnline catalog of all scribal hands (identified or unidentified) that appear in the manuscripts of the English writings of five major Middle English authors: Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, John Trevisa, William Langland and Thomas Hoccleve.
Italian Paleography | Digital
- Lezioni di Paleografia | Archivio Stato di PalermoArchived paleography course containing images of slides presented during the course, bibliography, and terminology.
- Interactive Album of Mediaeval Palaeography, ItalianOnline transcription exercise for an Italian document dated 11 March, 1445. The site permits users to enter responses word by word in individual windows. It also includes a key to transcribing the document and links to further resources like abbreviations.
- Italian Renaissance Paleography, Newberry LibraryForthcoming website designed to provide instruction to students and scholars for developing paleography skills. The website will provide access to primary sources drawn from the Newberry Library's collection of manuscripts as well as other collections. Expected to launch in 2019.
Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese Paleography | Digital
- Curso de Paleografia Latino HispanoamericanaDatabase containing instruction on five periods of writing from the medieval period to the nineteenth century.
- Spanish Script Tutorial, Brigham Young UniversityIntroduces users to basic record formats, focusing on specific information contained in each record and locating where that information can be found.
- Spanish Paleography Digital Teaching & Learning Tool, CUNYOnline interactive resource designed to assist users in learning, deciphering, and reading manuscripts written in Spanish during the early modern period, roughly from the late 15th to the 18th century.
- Abreviaturas Paleográficas PortuguesasDigital flipbook permitting users to scroll through a virtual notebook with information on Portuguese abbreviations and letter forms.
- Littera VisigothicaVisigothic script is the characteristic medieval writing system of the Iberian Peninsula. This website invites users to explore Visigothic script from a multidisciplinary point of view.
German Paleography | Digital
- Ad fontes, Universität ZürichDatabase offering users transcription exercises (here for the first time using English-language sources) based on «Isaak Iselin in Hawaiʻi, 1807», following a Basel merchant's sojourn in Hawaiʻi only thirty years after the arrival of Europeans on the islands.
- Terminologie: Gotische SchriftartenGerman language site providing digital copies of manuscripts from Swiss libraries, including an overview to different German handwriting styles.
- Allemand et alsacien : des rameaux des langues germaniquesOverview of the history of German and Alsatian handwriting (in French).
- Paléographie allemandeOverview of German script types, including examples from different periods and texts for practice transcribing. (In French)
- German Script TutorialTutorial for learning to read German documents written by hand and printed from the eighteenth to early twentieth century.
- Oxford University Medieval German PodcastLecture series covering the literary, cultural and linguistic heritage of the German speaking lands from 800 to 1600. Special areas of interests are the transmission of text in manuscript and early print, mysticism and devotional writing and courtly literature.
Subject Specialist
Featured Resources
- Practical Paleography Tutorial, Stanford UniversityThis six part tutorial introduces users to different handwriting styles chronologically and includes exercises and tips for deciphering and transcribing text.
- Purdue Paleography ProjectGuide and resources for paleography studies including a detailed tutorial for deciphering scripts and individual letters.
The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books by Call Number: Z106.5.E85 D47 2003ISBN: 0521803152Publication Date: 2003
