This skills course is designed to provide an introduction to English handwriting of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and to introduce participants to a wide range of documents of historical and literary interest from the manuscript collections of the Folger Shakespeare Library. These may include correspondence, literary works, accounts, inventories, wills, and deeds. Enrollment is limited to eight participants. Applicants are encouraged to describe the manuscript resources they are consulting in their own research, as participants will have an opportunity to discuss with the class the textual problems they are encountering in their work with Renaissance English manuscripts.

Director: Laetitia Yeandle is Curator Emeritus of Manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Schedule: Thursdays, 1 – 4:30 p.m., 30 September through 16 December, except 28 October and 25 November.

Please visit the Institute's website for more information and to obtain application materials.