Handwriting Examples From The 1870's

[AAAndrew]

Thanks, Dmills, but it was abstract 49 who needed the help. I've got it covered. BTW, the 1846 writing is very, very cool.

 

One free site that does a good job is smallpdf.com. You can compress as well as convert from pdf to jpeg.

 

 

 

Here's an interesting page from the 1870 census out of Philadelphia.

 

[Dmills]

AAAndrew - Oops. Sorry. Long day at the office. A quick question for you though. I have been posting images by clicking on "More Reply Options" and then use the "Attach Files" buttons in the lower left screen zone to upload images. The images that end up posting however are smaller in size and are at a much lesser resolution than my original files. The images that you have been posting seem to be much larger with a higher resolution. Are you using the same method to upload images?

 

Thanks.

 

Nice census grab. It looks like it might be a feminine hand to me for some reason. Maybe the exaggerated curves.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Dmills

[AAAndrew]

The best way to add pictures is through the Upload menu item in the top blue bar alongside forums and others. This allows you to upload and reuse unlimited number of images. Just make sure you name them something meaningful before uploading because once loaded they cant be changed, renamed or deleted. Copy the middle URL presented to you once you upload and paste that in the message where you want the image.

Edited February 19, 2019 by AAAndrew

[Dmills]

Thank you. Here is a test (hopefully higher resolution) of the previous image.

 

 

[Dmills]

This one leans a little more towards Spencerian with its darker swells.

 

 

[pankaj]

Handwritten letter of former British King George V written in 1918 on the release of the 'WW I prisoners'

 

[Tweel]

It's been interesting to see all the different hands in this thread. I have to say that for me, George V's handwriting is far and away the most legible of all the samples so far.

[sidthecat]

There's a British tradition of aristocratic disregard for penmanship: only clerks had to worry about the quality of their writing.

[pankaj]

Letter from R N Tagore, Indian poet writer n Nobel Literature winner to Nehru, first Prime Minister of India :

 

[ardene]

There's a British tradition of aristocratic disregard for penmanship: only clerks had to worry about the quality of their writing.

 

Come on, George's letter is perfectly legible, as well as Tagore's (quoted), something which can't be said for the handwriting in samples #1 and #3. Legibility is the sine qua non, otherwise writing isn't a form of communication any more.

 

Handwritten letter of former British King George V written in 1918 on the release of the 'WW I prisoners'

 

 

Letter from R N Tagore, Indian poet writer n Nobel Literature winner to Nehru, first Prime Minister of India :

 

[ardene]

This stuff isn't readily legible by any stretch of the imagination either.

 

This one leans a little more towards Spencerian with its darker swells.

 

 

[kmcmichael]

My research requires me to read - accurately and analytically - many documents from the 19th Century and early 20th Century. Few counties in Texas had typewriters for transcribing legal documents earlier than the Twenties; in some cases, they were still transcribing by hand well into the Thirties.

 

As a result, I have seen all styles and manners of handwriting. Some are beautiful to look at but not very easy to read. Conversely, some are not very pretty, but are easier to read. It's mostly a matter of figuring out some particular letters and combinations, then using context to decipher the writer's intent.

 

I have seen many examples of hand resembling the second illustration in the OP. The writers were obviously well trained, and I suppose they commanded decent wages for their skills. I can always tell when a county had less money to pay clerks by the lack of consistency and legibility in its record books. I dread assignments in several particular counties, because I am familiar with the awful, illegible transcriptions.

 

All three of the OP's examples are nice, pretty, and eminently legible. I should be so lucky in all my research.

I grew up in Cass county. I have to know how the writing was behind the pine curtain in that era?

[abstract49]

I grew up in Cass county. I have to know how the writing was behind the pine curtain in that era?

 

I have never worked Cass County, but lately I've been working in Harrison, and a little in Panola. However, most of my work has been updating more recent titles, so I have not had much occasion to go back to handwritten records there. What little I have looked at in Harrison has been pretty legible. Some years back, I did a fair bit of work in Nacogdoches County, and in San Augustine County, and I can tell you that they both have some pretty difficult to read records. It seems a bit strange to me that Nacogdoches would have such a sorry example, because it has always been a fairly prosperous community.

[gidimeister]

On 1/29/2019 at 7:40 PM, abstract49 said:

My research requires me to read - accurately and analytically - many documents from the 19th Century and early 20th Century. Few counties in Texas had typewriters for transcribing legal documents earlier than the Twenties; in some cases, they were still transcribing by hand well into the Thirties.

 

As a result, I have seen all styles and manners of handwriting. Some are beautiful to look at but not very easy to read. Conversely, some are not very pretty, but are easier to read. It's mostly a matter of figuring out some particular letters and combinations, then using context to decipher the writer's intent.

 

I have seen many examples of hand resembling the second illustration in the OP. The writers were obviously well trained, and I suppose they commanded decent wages for their skills. I can always tell when a county had less money to pay clerks by the lack of consistency and legibility in its record books. I dread assignments in several particular counties, because I am familiar with the awful, illegible transcriptions.

 

All three of the OP's examples are nice, pretty, and eminently legible. I should be so lucky in all my research.

Hi, where can I find these documents to read please?