For our Winter 2024 Challenge we are looking at the final two notebooks in the Free
Library of Philadelphia’s collection – notebooks E and F.
Notebook E
The Free Library of Philadelphia’s Notebook E is a 60-page notebook of which only the first half has been used (the final 27 pages are blank). Most of it is taken up with notes on the Gurney shorthand system in a mixture of Dickens’s and Arthur Stone’s handwriting with alternating blank pages. However, the first two pages have scribbled notes in shorthand. These look to be shorthand practice of individual symbols or combinations of symbols.
Notebook F
Notebook F is a 14-page notebook of which four are blank. Like the two pages in notebook E, these pages appear to be scribbled practice of individual symbols or combinations of symbols.
It would be interesting to see if the symbols that Arthur is practicing here refer to the words in the texts we have transcribed.
Take a look and see whether you recognise any of these symbols, then complete as much of the entry form as you can, and email us your solutions by 31 January 2025.
Download an entry form
The same file is provided in .docx and .pdf for your convenience. N.B. This is an updated version of the challenge, as originally one of the pages was upside down.