Alphabet Charts

Examples of the 4 Main Scripts

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

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

Secretary Hand

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

Court Hand

Italic Hand

English Round Hand

• Court Hand: "Court Hand Plate 2," 1867, in Andrew Wright, Court-hand restored; or, The student's assistant, in reading old deeds, charters, records, etc., (J. C. Hotten, London: 1867), p22; Digital Image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/: accessed 8 April 2024). This image is in the public domain.
• Secretary Hand: Jehan de Beau-Chesne and John Baildon, Secretary hand, 1570, Print, Digital Image, Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org : accessed 8 April 2023). This image is in the public domain.
• Italic Hand: Jehan de Beau-Chesne and John Baildon, Beauchesne Italique Hande, 1570, Print, Digital Image, Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org : accessed 8 April 2023). This image is in the public domain.
• Round Hand: George Bickham, English round hand script, 1743, in George Bickman, The Universal Penman, ed. Philip Hofer (London: 1743); Digital Image, Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/: accessed 8 April 2024). This image is in the public domain.