Early American Handwriting

Below are selected resources for reference as you learn to read and transcribe colonial-era handwriting.

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Online Resources

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Calligraphy & handwriting in America, 1710-1962 by George Peabody Library
Call Number: Z43 .P37
Published/Created: 1963
Court-Hand Restored, or, the Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records Etc by Andrew Wright
Call Number: KD313 .W75 2005
ISBN: 1584775491
Published/Created: 2005-08-01
Digging Deeper: using essential pre-1850 records : an intermediate genealogy guidebook by Karen A. Clifford
Call Number: FLM2015 087772 [CS14 .C57 2011 OVERFLOWJ34]
ISBN: 9780983238805
Published/Created: 2011-04-15
A guide to seventeenth-century Virginia court handwriting by Kent P. Bailey, Ransom B. True
Call Number: Z107 .B34 1980
Published/Created: 1980
Handwriting in America by Tamara P. Thornton
Call Number: Z40 .T46 1996
ISBN: 0300064772
Published/Created: 1996-11-27
This study traces the values and anxieties underlying the pedagogy, practice and analysis of handwriting in America.
How to read the handwriting and records of early America; the reading and interpretation of the handwriting, symbols, abbreviations, legal terminology, etc. as found in original records and on microfilm by E. Kay Kirkham
Call Number: Z113 .K5
Published/Created: 1961
Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry
Call Number: Z115.A5 S64 1998
ISBN: 080630846X
Published/Created: 2005-01-01
Understanding Colonial Handwriting by Harriet Stryker-Rodda
Call Number: Z115.A58 S8 1986
ISBN: 0806311533
Published/Created: 2002-01-01

Below are some websites that serve as good places to begin to learn about reading different early American scripts, handwritings, and abbreviations. These websites contain text samples and other source materials.

Deciphering 18th Century Handwriting External
A series of blog posts from the North Carolina State Archives on deciphering 18th century American handwriting.
Early American Handwriting External
A game to practice reading early Anglo-American writing.
How to Read 18th Century British-American Writing External
This website provides a brief overview of the characteristics of 18th century and 19th century handwriting. It includes links to excerpts from The Instructor, or American Young Man's Best Companion Containing Spelling, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetick by George Fisher, published in 1786,
Interpreting the Symbols and Abbreviations in Seventeenth Century English and American Documents External
This PDF is from the Board for Certification of Genealogists. It provides examples of abbreviations and orthographic conventions from 17th century American and England.
Learn to Read Old Handwriting External
An online course to learn the history of handwriting over 300 years in the United States. Includes strategies and techniques.

Paleography: Interpreting Handwriting in Genealogical Research

Local History & Genealogy: Ask a Librarian

Early American Handwriting