Court Hand

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Dave Crosby
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Court Hand

Post by Dave Crosby »

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my . . .
awareness.

I can't read this stuff!

Scottish legal documents from the 1500's written in Court Hand.

"What if," I mused, "I made a font of these characters and used it on documents I knew exactly what they said. Would that help me get acquainted with these odd forms and be able to decipher them at some future date?
Those first two words are Lorem Ipsum?<br />How do you tell &quot;n&quot; and &quot;u&quot; apart?
Those first two words are Lorem Ipsum?
How do you tell "n" and "u" apart?
CourtHand-01.jpg (88.98 KiB) Viewed 8265 times
With the advent of Font Creator V7 at hand that added hinting, I gave it another shot. Not perfect yet, (no font ever is) but here it is:
CourtHand-1500.otf
(37.56 KiB) Downloaded 647 times
CourtHand-02.JPG
CourtHand-02.JPG (103.51 KiB) Viewed 8265 times
Last edited by Dave Crosby on Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Aut nunc aut nunquam
Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Court Hand

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

I need a lot more than a hint to be able to read it.
My FontsReviews: MainTypeFont CreatorHelpFC15 + MT12.0 @ Win 10 64-bit build 19045.2486
vanisaac
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Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Court Hand

Post by vanisaac »

Court hand is the demented granduncle of Edwardian script and blackletter. It's not technically legible by anyone.
Dave Crosby
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Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2004 1:13 pm
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Re: Court Hand

Post by Dave Crosby »

vanisaac wrote:Court hand is the demented granduncle of Edwardian script and blackletter. It's not technically legible by anyone.
AMEN brother Vanisaac!
Aut nunc aut nunquam
Dave Crosby
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Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2004 1:13 pm
Location: Enoch, Utah

Re: Court Hand

Post by Dave Crosby »

My daughter showed me a website where we can download a pdf of a book written in 1867 on how to read this:

http://archive.org/details/courthandrestore00wrigrich
CourtHandRestored.jpg
CourtHandRestored.jpg (190.41 KiB) Viewed 8226 times
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