Pitman’s New Era Shorthand Transcription

*** LATEST NEWS  (as of 5 May 2012)

I have had the cold from hell for the last three weeks and have done nothing over and above my normal job.  I haven't even managed to get round to posting this reference from my client in Australia ...

I'm just about to start transcribing another diary for Michael so no peace for the wicked then!

 

 

Received a really interesting enquiry lasy month.  This one came from Germany and has introduced me to the world of Geocaching.  Its a form of hi-tech treasure hunt - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching

Anyway, I was asked to transcribe a clues written in Pitman's Shorthand and the coordinates would lead to the final cache - hopefully!  I have just received a photo of the cache which I have posted here together with the clue.  If you want to know what it says you will have to translate it yourself because I've been asked not to post the solution because it will ruin it for anyone else looking for this same cache.  You live and learn!

 

 

I think these postcards were written in Pitman's Centenary and I've worked out what they say ...

"I am sorry I have not been able to write to you, I did make a start to last night but was fetched by Jack and Jim to go down town with them. They might as well have left me alone for it rained the whole time. They told me that Mr M... will be going to Worcester today and very likely I shall see him. I am alright therefore for a bit of ... Jim said that you intended going to Worcester yesterday and I suppose the weather upset arrangements. You may be in Worcester tonight, I hope so. I shall not be able to write to you I expect until Sunday, so bye, bye til then. Hoping you will please excuse ... ..."

 Still trying to fill in some of the gaps.

 

 

 

" I have just seen Jack and he tells me that Jim is coming to Wick today and that he is returning here tomorrow and that being the case very likely you will be coming too. I got a few flowers to send you and had not intended posting them until morning but thinking for the reason above they might miss you, I sent them by this post hoping you will get them alright. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you come across a document which looks like a page of doodles, lots of lines and circles which make no sense whatsoever and do you wonder what it means? It may be that you have come into possession of an old diary which includes squiggles which you cannot understand. A diary is after all a place where one can write one's secret thoughts and, to ensure that if found it could not be read, the writer may have recorded their feelings in shorthand.  If you want to know what these scribbles mean, I can help.

Shorthand transcription (or translation if you prefer) is my speciality and I have been using shorthand daily for over 35 years now.  I was extremely lucky to learn Pitman's New Era Shorthand in the mid 1970's - it wasn't even being taught at my school at that time; it had been replaced by Pitman's 2000 which you could only learn at college, and I remember the book I used had a picture on the front cover of a sexy secretary taking dictation from a handsome man – it was very 1950's! I have now come to realise that there are so few people in the UK who can read shorthand and I believe it is slowly dying out and will become extinct – which is a shame because it is a beautiful form of writing in its own right.

Pitman's Shorthand is a phonetics-based system developed by the Englishman, Sir Isaac Pitman (1837-1897). Sounds are written as outlines made up of light and dark strokes, curves, circles, loops, hooks, ticks, dots, dashes and diphthongs. Other techniques, such as short forms, intersections, doubling and halving, help the writer to take down sounds at an even faster rate. Pitman's Shorthand is an extremely clever and enduring system but unfortunately technology has replaced this amazing form of speedwriting and it is in danger of becoming extinct. Why not have a look at Wikipedia or some of the shorthand videos on YouTube? 

One major advantage of Pitman's New Era shorthand is that it can be read by everyone who studied the subject.  That is why I can read my mum's shorthand and vice-versa.  It is also why I can transcribe (or translate, it is another language in any case) any document written in New Era or 2000, although it doesn't work the other way round!

So, if you would like to know what your grandparent's journals say, email me.  It may just be a shopping list, but who knows, it could be something really interesting.  What looks like a load of old scribbling on files and documents (and I'm guilty of making notes like that rather than writing things out properly) can be very important.  Find out the meaning of these scribbles.

And it isn't restricted to your granny's diary, shorthand is still used by legal secretaries and journalists, but can today's writers read yesterday's writings?  I can!

If you would like to know more, please contact me:

            tracey@shorthandtranscription.co.uk

tracey@shorthandtracey.co.uk