Uncovering the Written Hand: Emily Walker Completes McNeil Paleography Workshop

English undergraduate student Emily Walker recently completed The Lost World of Handwriting: A Workshop in English Paleography, 1500–1850, offered through the McNeil Center for Early American Studies (MCEAS).

Selected from a competitive pool of applicants across MCEAS Consortium institutions, Walker joined the workshop led by Heather Wolfe, Curator of Manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library and leading English paleographer. Through virtual sessions and an in-person day in Philadelphia, Walker developed literacy in reading historic handwriting styles, examined manuscript collections, and practiced writing with ink and quills.

It’s harder than it sounds. To the untrained eye, historic English handwriting, particularly “secretary hand,” the dominant script from the late 15th through the mid-17th century, can look like little more than chicken scratch. But even once you learn to recognize the letterforms, the challenge isn’t over: the alphabet was slightly different, spelling was inconsistent, and words were abbreviated in ways that can turn even a short sentence into a puzzle.

Walker’s completion of the workshop means she can now read what others can’t and bring those voices from the past back to let them speak to us.

Montclair students interested in future MCEAS opportunities are encouraged to contact Montclair State MCEAS mentor Steffi Dippold at dippolds@montclair.edu