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This course provides practical training in transcribing, understanding and interpreting a range of the documents employed in personal, legal, financial and administrative transactions in England and Wales from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. It enables the students to read archives and to develop an understanding of their legal and administrative backgrounds. Topics covered will include development of letter forms from 1500 to 1900; specialist secretary, financial and legal scripts; palaeographical abbreviations and contractions; orthography in vernacular writing from 1500 onwards; historical chronology and dating; overview of English land law and its underlying concepts from 1500; diplomatic formulae; methods of authentication; application of diplomatic to modern electronic media.

Learning outcomes: By the end of the module, students will be able to transcribe the different scripts, including the specialist legal, financial and charter hands, accurately and with reasonable fluency. They will also understand the historical and legal contexts in which the records were produced and will know the meaning of the diplomatic formulae employed, which will enable them to provide competent archival finding aids and to assist visitors in the search room who may have trouble reading and interpreting difficult scripts and documents.