Each log writer is likely to have a peculiar writing style and spelling system. In the most exaggerated cases the spelling of one word may vary even in the entry for one day.
If you find oddities please do post them here to help other viewers working with this project.
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If you want to query/show some text please supply the page reference (the reference changes as you view the middle of a page), and an image of the text would also be helpful. Help for manipulating/posting images can be found in Guide to posting links and images. If you have any problems with imaging please ask for help below.
Remember - Always type WHAT YOU SEE, just as they wrote it. If you are unsure of a word, you can post a question to this page and ask for help, or if just one letter of a word you can insert ~ in place of a single letter.
Handwriting Help and Spelling
Moderator: arboggs
Re: Handwriting Help and Spelling
Here are two samples of handwriting from the Navarch log with a couple of helpful tips.
Click here to see the full log page this example is taken from.
This is from Dec 30th. It reads:
Fore part fresh breeze N. course E by. S. Cape San Lucas in
sight Middle part same course
E 1/2 N. Latter part wind fresh
N.W. course E by N.
Lat 23.16 N Long 109.27 W.
Note that the log keeper puts a loop at the bottom right of many capital letters which looks like the letter e. Also he has a very distinct way of writing N which often looks more like a capital A.
Our log keeper changes when the ship departs Hawaii in March. This gives us another very distinct handwriting to deal with that has its own unique features. Click here to see the full log page this example is taken from.
This reads:
Tuesday, May 8th
Com with light S wind Ship still in ice
at 9 H AM made steam and sterrd in
tourde Navrine out of the ice
The letter N you will see the little hook on the lower left, it can look like an H at times but the little hook will assure you it is an N. He often just trails off the end of words, as with 'ice' above. Sometimes you have to read for context to determine the scrawled word.
Second item to note is his timekeeping. In general this log keeper uses 'Com' short for Commence to start his log entries. Some days have a 'middle' and/or 'later part' but many do not. He does at times insert specific times as you see above. The 9 H above is how he indicates specific time, in this case 9 H for 9 hour with no minutes and then he specifies AM. He will indicate an hour with minutes as: 6=30.
Click here to see the full log page this example is taken from.
This is from Dec 30th. It reads:
Fore part fresh breeze N. course E by. S. Cape San Lucas in
sight Middle part same course
E 1/2 N. Latter part wind fresh
N.W. course E by N.
Lat 23.16 N Long 109.27 W.
Note that the log keeper puts a loop at the bottom right of many capital letters which looks like the letter e. Also he has a very distinct way of writing N which often looks more like a capital A.
Our log keeper changes when the ship departs Hawaii in March. This gives us another very distinct handwriting to deal with that has its own unique features. Click here to see the full log page this example is taken from.
This reads:
Tuesday, May 8th
Com with light S wind Ship still in ice
at 9 H AM made steam and sterrd in
tourde Navrine out of the ice
The letter N you will see the little hook on the lower left, it can look like an H at times but the little hook will assure you it is an N. He often just trails off the end of words, as with 'ice' above. Sometimes you have to read for context to determine the scrawled word.
Second item to note is his timekeeping. In general this log keeper uses 'Com' short for Commence to start his log entries. Some days have a 'middle' and/or 'later part' but many do not. He does at times insert specific times as you see above. The 9 H above is how he indicates specific time, in this case 9 H for 9 hour with no minutes and then he specifies AM. He will indicate an hour with minutes as: 6=30.