See it, don't read it

Clerks, scriveners and neighbours who could write wrote for others: the writer is often not the person named

Writing masters printed copybooks, such as Beauchesne and Baildon's of 1570–1

Secretary was the everyday hand of business; italic spread among the gentry and was the hand most women learnt

Who wrote the documents

Paper for letters, accounts and registers; parchment, made from skin, for deeds and records meant to last

A goose quill cut to an edge, and ink made from oak galls and iron

Iron-gall ink can fade to brown, or eat into thin paper