Old Vellum Document

I never heard of the "hand style" variations. Very interesting.

 

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I think you may be right @THCoins. The English written words employed in (particularly) the 1600s to 1700s are often spelled, and used, somewhat differently - sometimes quite a bit differently - than they are today. But most English scholars and members of learned professions such as Barristers (Lawyers) could write clear, understandable documents. See the Queen Elizabeth I letter I have attached (and please note the various word spellings and usage). Of course she was tutored by the leading scholar (and eminent calligrapher) Roger Ascham, but there were many other accomplished writers at that time.

 

I guess their spellchecker wasn't working well.......

 

Thanks to those who input. Does anyone know of anyone who might be hired to translate this document?

 

I did some paleography in graduate school and have Preston and Yeandle's ENGLISH HANDWRITING 1400-1650. This looks to me to be a 16th-century hand, maybe ca. 1525. But I sound more authoritative than I have a right to be. With that date, the ms. is in Early Modern English, though having some Middle English helps in transcribing. "Old English," to specialists, refers to Anglo-Saxon.

The problem with transcribing and translating these mss. is, of course, the hand is difficult, and indentures involve legal discourse and abbreviations that challenge even paleographers who don't specialize in these kinds of documents.

With all that having been said, I'd like to give maybe 5-10 lines a go for free, but I'd need a better photo. I can turn it, but I need the vellum flattened out so I could read all letterforms.

I will PM you my email address. Perhaps you can send me the "Edinburge" page with the signature. But honesty, I don't think I will do much good with it.

 

Hi Gavin,
It would be super of you to try. I will work on taking better pictures this afternoon and send them to you.
Thanks

 

If anyone is interested in trying to decipher this vellum document, I was able to get new high resolution jpg's and pdf"s on a much better scanner than I have. I would post them, but the files are pretty large. Message me and I will gladly send the files.

I am still hoping this is the key to the Oak Island Treasure.

 

I don't know. There's no way I could bring myself to efface something that old; it seems to me that even the most trivial of documents are valuable as a snapshot of a time so far removed.

Then again, I have a box full of bank statements from the early 1980s, so I take my own opinions on this with a large grain of salt...