Workshop: Introduction to Early Modern French Paleography
The art and practice of deciphering old handwriting
Introduction to Early Modern French Paleography*
(*The art and practice of deciphering old handwriting)
January 6th and 13th, 2:00-3:30pm EST
Led by Rachel Waxman
Sponsored by LifexCode: DH Against Enclosure, Sponsored by the Sheridan Libraries and the Atlantic History Seminar
Join LifexCode’s Keywords for Black Louisiana Project and the Hopkins Atlantic History Seminar in learning the skills for reading handwritten documents in early modern French script. The focus of this two-part introductory workshop will be on 18th-century handwriting, using sample documents from the Louisiana Historical Society's digitized archive. Part I (January 6th) will cover the basics of early modern French script and how to work through these documents, and Part II (January 13th) will involve working through sample documents and some paleographic troubleshooting.
Rachel Waxman is a 7th-year PhD candidate in the JHU Department of History who works on the political economy of sugar during the French Revolution. She has been studying French from the age of 7, and has nearly 5 years of experience deciphering archival documents in French, from the good, to the bad, to the truly gnarly. While her paleography training is mostly informal, she looks forward to bringing her firsthand archival experience to your paleographical endeavors.
This workshop is oriented toward graduate students conducting French-language primary source research. However, anyone who would find it useful is encouraged to get in touch.
To register for this limited-capacity workshop, please contact Christina Thomas (cthom133@jhu.edu) or Emma Bilski (ekbilski@jhu.edu).