HST6850: Palaeography
15 credits (semester 1)
Module Leader: Professor Cathy Shrank
| Module Summary |
In this module for candidates following the early modern pathway through the MA in historical research, students are introduced to the different forms of law hand and secretary hand current in the early modern period, noting transitional styles and the emergence of italic script. A range of transcription conventions are also explained. For each session, students will be required to prepare transcriptions of a representative selection of manuscript materials.
This unit aims to equip students with the technical skills necessary to undertake primary research using manuscript sources from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and also to undertake editorial work on such documents. The first class will guide students through the basic forms of law hand and secretary hand, the various ligatures and abbreviations typical of handwriting in this period, and will also provide basic guidelines for the reading and transcription of early modern texts. The subsequent sessions are intended to expand students' knowledge, skills, and confidence by exploring a range of different documents and hands from the period. The module is also intended to give students a critical understanding of current debates over modes of transcription, so that for their final piece of assessed coursework they make an informed choice of the mode of transcription which they believe most appropriate.
| Teaching |
This module will be taught via ten one-hour classes. Students will prepare transcriptions of specified documents in advance of each class, and the teaching hours will be devoted to a close textual analysis of the materials prepared by the entire group.
| Assessment |
Assessment is by a portfolio of student transcriptions of three documents distributed at the end of the course. The documents are chosen to test students' command of a range of different hands. The submitted work is marked for accuracy of transcription, and also for the appropriateness and consistency of use of transcription conventions.
| Intended Learning Outcomes |
By the end of the module, a candidate will be able to demonstrate:
- An ability to write accurate transcriptions of early modern documents.
- An ability to identify a range of different hands.
- An understanding of some of the transitional forms of handwriting distinctive of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
- An understanding of the variety and inconsistency of early modern spelling, orthography and forms of abbreviation.
- A confidence in using technical language to discuss documents, handwriting styles and characters.
- A critical understanding of the range of different transcription conventions currently in use and their relative advantages and disadvantages.