Browse Items (14 total)

An example of automated character extraction from a shorthand exercise

A black and white illustration. In the foreground a small wooden rowing boat is being rowed by a young woman with dark hair blowing in the wind. She wears a simple dress and a cloak and is looking over her shoulder as she raises the oars out of the water. A man is at the back of the boat crouched with one hand on each side. He has a dark grizzly beard and hair. He is dressed in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up and trousers. In the background of the picture is a skyline of tall buildings and a church spire with tall ships in port in front. Another small rowing boat is coming in to frame from the left.
'The Bird of Prey' illustration taken from Our Mutual Friend

The street view of a terraced house. The ground floor of the house has been painted white. To the left is a dark blue door with a brass letterbox and a sunburst window above. To the right is a tall rectangular window. The rest of the house is bare brown brick. There are two further floors above, indicated by two rows of pairs of large sash windows. A fourth floor is indicated by two smaller sash windows that meet the white roof line. A blue circular plaque is affixed to the wall centrally above the door and window of the ground floor. The edges of neighboring terraced homes and some street furniture are visible.
A modern photograph of the facade of Dickens's home in Norfolk Street, London

A colour illustration of a large hall with flagstone floor. Three groups of men and ladies stand or sit around the edges of the room. They face a set of three archways beyond which is an ante-chamber flooded with light from large windows behind. Through the central archway is a horseshoe shaped bench. Stairs leading to the bench are set within the smaller archways to either side. A judge sits at the head of the bench beneath the Royal coat of arms with six men dressed in red and wearing wigs to either side. There is a large desk set within the bench, around which ten men in black robes and white stoles are sat. A man in plain clothes leans against the desk. The room is decorated with insignia and wooden panelling.
An illustration of proceedings at Doctors' Commons

A colour illustration of a large hall. A vast golden chandelier hangs from the high ceiling. The room is lit by its candles and other candles on sconces. Three large arched windows on the end wall show that it is dark outside. The hall has mezzanine galleries to the left and right and tiered bench seating with green cushions below. In the flat centre of the room is a very large table draped in green. Three men in white wigs and dressed in black are writing there. There is a golden staff laid at the front of the table. A man in a wig and gown sits on a large wooden chair leaning on its arms. The back of the chair is very tall and ornately carved topped with a golden royal crest and several bright candles on sconces. The tiered seating is full of men dressed in various colours, some with wigs or hats and some without. Men lean over the upper left balcony. A man is standing to the right of the large table gesturing with his arms as though speaking.
An illustration of the House of Commons

A black and white illustration on a book page. The illustration is of a man with a rounded face. He is wearing a white wig, necktie, waistcoat and jacket. He is smiling with mouth closed. His portrait is illustrated in an oval decorative frame. Beneath the frame are depictions of books, papers and a pen and ink stand. At the bottom of the illustration are the words 'Thomas Gurney' separated by a crest.
A portrait of Thomas Gurney, inventor of the Gurney shorthand system.

A printed title page from a book. The paper shows age staining. The text is surrounded by decorative curls mimicking handwriting flourishes.
The title page of Gurney's Brachygraphy manual

A page in a book. The paper shows age staining. On the page is printed a table divided into four columns, with the first column further subdivided in two. Above the table is the number one in brackets. The table has three headings: 'Alphabet', 'Letters' and 'Words'. A slim column on the far left shows simple Brachygraphy symbols. The second column shows alphabet characters and words that the symbol can also stand for. The next column provides examples of the Gurney spellings of words, eliminating duplicate letters and internal vowels (i.e. 'assault' becomes 'aslt'). The next column spells the word out using joined shorthand symbols. The final column translates the joined shorthand character back into a longhand word.
A table of shorthand symbols for letters of the alphabet, words that the same symbols can stand for, and spelt characters

A page in a book. The paper shows age staining. On the page is printed a table. Above the table is the number three in brackets. The table is headed 'Arbitrary Characters for Prepositions and Terminations &c.' The table lists Brachygraphy characters in three narrow columns, each next to a wider column listing the accompanying definitions.
A table of shorthand symbols that stand for arbitrary characters

A page from a book. The paper shows age staining. On the page is a printed box divided in two halves horizontally. Above the box is the number two in brackets. The top box is titled 'Of the Vowels'. In it is writing in English and intermittent Brachygraphy characters. The bottom box is titled 'Arbitrary Characters' and contains two narrow columns of brachygraphy characters and their meanings in wider columns next to each. There are faint pencil markings in the top margin of Brachygraphy characters.
A description of how to represent vowels in the Brachygraphy shorthand system, as well as a list of arbitrary characters that begin with upper or lower case letters
Output Formats

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