Browse Items (26 total)

A longhand title in English reads 'Sydney Smith', followed by a line of Brachygraphy symbols.
The title and first line of a shorthand dictation exercise titled 'Sydney Smith' by a practiced shorthand writer.

A longhand title in English reads 'Sydney Smith', followed by a line of Brachygraphy symbols.
The title and first line of a shorthand dictation exercise titled 'Sydney Smith' by someone less experienced with the Brachygraphy system.

A photostat of both sides of a letter, side-by-side. On the right, a letterhead in Gothic font reads 'Gad's Hill Place, Higham by Rochester, Kent'. This is followed by a date (the month in shorthand) and 22 lines of shorthand arranged in six paragraphs. On the left is an inscription in longhand: 'Copy. Letter to S. A. Chappell. Boston. Friday 22nd November 1867.'
Shorthand copy of a letter sent by Dickens to his American promoter S. A. Chappell in 1867

A photostat of a shorthand memo. Three paragraphs of Brachygraphy characters arranged across nine lines.
A shorthand memo in which Dickens outlines his reasons for declining Lovejoy's proposal to stand for a seat in Parliament. The surviving longhand letter is dated 31 May 1841.

A sheet of paper with three lines of typewritten print followed by a signature and postscript handwritten in black ink. The postscript is a line of Brachygraphy shorthand characters followed by a transcription.
The second page of a typed letter to Carlton from Higenbottam concerning their attempts to transcribe Dickens's shorthand

A sheet of paper headed 'Royal Museum & Public Library, Canterbury' with the organisation crest. A typewritten letter with date, address, recipient and twenty-five lines of writing arranged in three paragraphs. In the first paragraph, four Brachygraphy shorthand symbols are added by hand in black ink. The last paragraph continues onto the next page.
The first page of a typed letter to Carlton from Higenbottam concerning their attempts to transcribe Dickens's shorthand

A brown sheet of tracing paper with holes punched down the left side. The outline of a smaller page torn from a notebook, also with holes punched down the left side, can be seen through the tracing paper. Written in black at the top is 'Dickens's Shorthand' and the date. 11 lines of shorthand characters in black ink are visible through the tracing paper. On top, written on the tracing paper layer, are potential transcriptions.
A tracing of a shorthand letter partially transcribed

The right hand page of a small open book. Eight notes are written in different colours and shades of ink divided by underlining. Two of the notes are crossed out with heavy zig-zag lines. The second note on the page is three lines of Brachygraphy shorthand with 'Xmas 1855' written in longhand at the start.
A page from Dickens's 1867 Pocket Diary, including a shorthand note of a quotation later used in a speech

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 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
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