★ Find a new page on our Untranscribed Manuscripts list.
To select a manuscript to transcribe, please use the options below.
Most users enjoy transcribing fresh pages that have not yet been worked on. You can find these in the Untranscribed Manuscripts list.
Bentham wrote on an enormous range of subjects, ranging from religion to colonisation, from sexual morality to political economy. Here are a list of some of the topics contained in the manuscripts uploaded to the Transcription Desk.
Bentham lived from 1748 to 1832 and wrote for much of his life. We have categorised his writings into the below time periods.
View a time-line of Bentham's life.
Generally speaking, Bentham's handwriting deteriorated as he got older. Thus, the earliest manuscripts are the most easy to read; the middle period is moderate; while the later period is the most challenging (and therefore the most rewarding!) By clicking Easy, Moderate or Difficult below you will be directed to the corresponding chronological categories.
Consult help on reading Bentham's handwriting, examples of Bentham's hand, and examples of his idiosyncratic spellings for more assistance.
If you are looking for manuscripts which have yet to be worked on at all, consult the list of untranscribed manuscripts.
If you would prefer to tackle a partially-transcribed manuscript, rather than starting one from scratch, have a look at the list of the list of incomplete transcripts.
This category refers to the reference system used by the library at UCL, which stores the Bentham Papers in 174 different boxes. Each box contains a variety of manuscripts from different time periods and written on a range of subjects. View the contents of a specific box.
Each box of Bentham papers contains a range of individual manuscripts known as folios. Each folio has been assigned a unique number by UCL's library. Consult the list of folios.
