Decoding Documents: Text

Page 30 of the Rideau Canal Orderbook (Source: Great Britain Royal Engineers Fond, Queens University Archives. Kingston, Ontario)

The somewhat daunting task of analysing primary sources (i.e. sources created at the time of a historial event or period) can be more easily managed by adopting the P.A.P.E.R formula proposed by Patrick Riel. P.A.P.E.R. stands for:

Purpose
Argument
Presuppositions
Epistemology
Relate

Before analysing a source however other steps might need to be taken. Such as transcribing. Many pre-typewriter documents such as letters, diaries and informal workplace communications might need to be intreperted and transcribed by historians. For example, the above scan of Page 30 of the Royal Engineers' Rideau Canal Order book transcribes to something like:

Rule under which cord wood is to be admitted to pass through Ordnance Canals

No craft of cord wood drawing more than three feet [nine] inches of water to be allowed to enter artificial cuts of the Canal
No craft of cord wood going to Bytown to be allowed to pass the Locks at the Hogs Back unless provided with sufficient horses to tow it in to the Ba[sin?]
No cord wood on any account to be landed [MS illegible] at the place pointed out by the Lock Masters[sic] and no Craft allowed to remain in the Basin unless during the time of unloading the charge of one penny fee cord to be paid to the Ordnance store keeper on the public account before all cord word landed are the property of the government and no cord wood floats or [Graverses?] to remain on the bank or wherever longer than forty-eight hours

Parties having cord wood to pass must heed the above rules and when signing a declaration a pass ticket will be given which must be delivered to the Lockmaster at Bytown who will point out the berth where the Craft is to be unloaded

By Order

[J Thomas Gun?]

Ordnance Store keeper

Rideau Canal

When transcribing conventions are important. For example [sic] should be used to show that any misspellings were on the original writer's part and not on the transcriber's. Additionally, [ms ____] (torn, illegible, etc.,) can be used to indicate when something is unreadable in a manuscript.