Script Tutorial Login Logout HomeAbout

The
English
Documents

ALPHABET

 

Below are sample alphabets of the four major scripts used in early modern English-language documents.



Examples of the 4 main scripts

To learn more about these scripts, visit the Hands section under Techniques and Tools.


English Round Hand

round hand script

From "Round hand script" at brittanica.com



Italic Hand

“Italique hande”

From "Learning to write the alphabet" by Heather Wolfe at
The Collation: a gathering of scholarship from the Folger Shakespeare Library



Secretary Hand

“The secretarie Alphabete” from Jehan de Beau-Chesne and John Baildon, A booke containing diuers sortes of hands, as well the English as French secretarie with the Italian, Roman, chancelry & court hands (London, 1602). This was the first English-language writing manual, first published in 1570.

From "Learning to write the alphabet" by Heather Wolfe at
The Collation: a gathering of scholarship from the Folger Shakespeare Library


THE SECRETARY ALPHABET: FULL CHART


For further practice with Secretary hand, visit rycote.bodleia​n.ox.ac.uk.​

Pay particular attention to the lowercase c, e, h, r, s, u/v, w, and x.​

Court Hand


​

Terms of Use | Feedback ©2015 The Center for Family History & Genealogy and Department of History