The Write Stuff
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An excellent sourcebook for the would-be decipherer of old manuscript documents. The book first of all reviews the letters of the alphabet, and gives examples of the form/shape of each one. In addition, many commonly-used abbreviations, Latin terms etc are demonstrated.
The second part of the book gives a selection of documents from varying periods, each one presented in the form of an image of the original text with its accompanying transcription. This is invaluable, as it is possible to pick out "standard" phrases etc and identify them in one's own documents.
Using the two parts in conjunction will prove enormously helpful.I'm currently ploughing my way through an early 17th century will which, at first glance, looks like it was written in Arabic! I had made a start at cracking the text but was struggling until I got Ms Marshall's book. I'm pleased to say that I've made considerable headway since.
Well worth the price!
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