Handwriting Helps
Whether you are struggling to read old handwriting or working in an unfamiliar language, FamilySearch can help you understand hard-to-read records.
Available Handwriting Help Languages: | ||||
English Handwriting Helps In This Article
Alphabet (Secretary Hand)
Old English Guide - Introduction
Old English Guide - A to M
Old English Guide - N to Z
English Handwriting Help - Secretary Hand Alphabet
![Secretary Hand Examples](https://cms-b-assets.familysearch.org/dims4/default/51cd1dc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1298x2886+0+0/resize/800x1779!/format/jpg/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F30%2Fc8%2F8d364363462ca02a81de359fc8c0%2Fenglish-secretary-hand-alphabet-examples.jpg)
English Handwriting Help - Old English
![Old English Introduction](https://cms-b-assets.familysearch.org/dims4/default/e385abe/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1360x9020+0+0/resize/800x5306!/format/jpg/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F09%2Fbc%2Fc50f4f9047198942139aa30c57a2%2Fold-english-introduction.png)
English Handwriting Help - Old English A-M
![Old English A-M](https://cms-b-assets.familysearch.org/dims4/default/48a3331/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1360x26896+0+0/resize/800x15821!/format/jpg/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F09%2F48%2F8c707805415e84d53d10fcb65ff4%2Fold-english-a-to-m.png)
English Handwriting Help - Old English N-Z
![Old English N-Z](https://cms-b-assets.familysearch.org/dims4/default/67bcf19/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1360x26923+0+0/resize/800x15837!/format/jpg/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffamilysearch-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3a%2F62%2F97e0d6b04dbe9dbb96d86d13ad66%2Fold-english-n-to-z.png)
Additional Resources
BYU Script Tutorial
Palaeography 1500-1800 (UK National Archives)
Early American Handwriting Game
How do I get help reading handwriting while indexing or viewing records?