Anglo-Saxon Royal Diplomas: A Palaeography

`A substantial and important book... Well constructed and clearly argued, it offers a great deal of new information gathered from original sources'. PROFESSOR JANE ROBERTS, KINGS COLLEGE LONDON

The 118 presumed original royal Latin diplomas enacted before 1066 do much to illuminate our understanding of the Anglo-Saxons. This book - the first to examine the palaeography of the complete collection - traces every aspect of their development and creates a chronological framework into which undated documents may tentatively be fitted, helping to verify the authenticity or otherwise of doubtful documents. The core of the book comprises a history of Anglo-Saxon handwriting, followed by a detailed illustrated study of the script forms which appear in the documents. This is preceded by a discussion of the possible authorship of the charters, which addresses the thorny question of whether there was an Anglo-Saxon chancery, then examines in detail the external features and textual elements. The second half of the book contains a complete analysis of four 'representative' diplomas spanning the period from the seventh to eleventh centuries in the light of the principles established in the earlier chapters; these are then applied to seven 'problem' charters to determine their authenticity..
SUSAN D. THOMPSON is a former research fellow of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies.   hardback   ISBN 978-1-843-83218-8

Price:  £45.00

Court Hand Restored - The Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records etc.

A superb reference tool explaining the mysteries of old handwriting, abbreviations in documents and their proper meanings. A must for any serious historian or genealogist.    

Price:  £12.13

Medieval Latin Documents, series 1: Diocesan Records

One of a series of aids produced by the Borthwick Institute designed to help anyone trying to get a practical working knowledge of historic handwriting.     ISBN 0-903857-12-X

Price:  £4.00

Reading the Past: Medieval Handwriting

12 colour facsimiles, transcripts and reading notes, with introduction. One of a series of aids produced by the Borthwick Institute designed to help anyone trying to get a practical working knowledge of historic handwriting.     ISBN 1-904497-08-X

Price:  £9.50

Reading the Past: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century English Handwriting

13 colour facsimiles, transcripts and reading notes, with introduction. One of a series of aids produced by the Borthwick Institute designed to help anyone trying to get a practical working knowledge of historic handwriting.     ISBN 0-903857-84-7

Price:  £9.50

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Wills, lnventories and Other Probate Documents

One of a series of aids produced by the Borthwick Institute designed to help anyone trying to get a practical working knowledge of historic handwriting.     ISBN 0-903857-03-0

Price:  £4.00

The Scriptorium of Margam Abbey and the Scribes of Early Angevin Glamorgan

Margam Abbey was founded by the lord of Glamorgan, Earl Robert of Gloucester, in 1147. Its scriptorium was concerned not only with the usual business of a monastic house, but also provided staff for the central administration of the Gloucester earldom in the twelfth century and served as the earldom's writing-office for Glamorgan in the early thirteenth.   hardback   ISBN 978-0-851-15851-8

Price:  £70.00