The Diplomatic Correspondence of Thomas Bodley has been designed as a unique resource accessible to scholarly and general audiences alike. Bodley's letters have been transcribed to the highest standards, using innovative transcription techniques and Transcriber's Workbench software. This software permits the reader to choose different options when accessing the transcriptions. Sixteenth century letter-writers employed diverse methods of abbreviating their words. These abbreviations and contractions have been encoded, as well as other material and textual features of the letters. Examination of these features can enrich the study of the letters, and offers a glimpse of the conditions and techniques surrounding the production of handwritten texts. However, not all users of the website will require transcripts which retain these specific features, and these readers will be able to customize their preferences to mask these elements to enable an uninterrupted reading of the letters. The letters are available in varying degrees of diplomatic or normalized transcription according to the customized selection. This is a key and pioneering feature of the CELL online series.

When first accessed, the letters are presented in a default format which reveals and expands the contracted and abbreviated words and removes linebreaks. Underlining and deletions are also revealed. All supralinear insertions are presented within forward slash marks (virgules).

Readers may choose to see those features in which they are interested by selecting the appropriate options below. (Note: the setting of options relies on your browser accepting cookies.)

Contractions
Abbreviations
Change of hand
Marginalia
Catchwords
Linebreaks