Browse Items (14 total)

A black symbol on a white background. A line slopes down to the right loops back on itself to create a circle and shoots up to the right with a zig-zag like tick towards the tail.
The Brachygraphy shorthand symbol for the word 'disadvantageous'

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 black symbol on a white background. A line arches with the right hand tail looping round to create a circle and continuing into a horizontal short line. A small curved line intersects the left bottom of the arch shape. A similar small curved line adjoins the inside right of the arch above the loop.
The Brachygraphy shorthand symbol for the word 'expectation'

A black and white graphic map with two coloured route lines. A thick line indicates the River Thames curving across the right hand corner. Black images of ravens mark Norfolk Street in the top left and the Houses of Parliament in the bottom centre next to the Thames. In the top right of the map, ravens mark Furnival's Inn, the Old Bailey, Bell Yard and Doctors' Commons. A red dotted line marks a route from Norfolk Street to the Old Bailey and Doctors Commons. A blue dotted line marks a route from Furnival's Inn to the Houses of Parliament.
A map of Dickens's routes from his residences in Norfolk Street and Furnival's Inn to the places associated with his early shorthand career

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 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 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 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
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