This corpus-based study examines the orthographic systems in thirteen editions of the Kalender of Shepherdes (1506-1656), a comprehensive compendium of prose and verse texts of different length and on a variety of subjects, for example, astronomy, agriculture, medicine, and religion. It focuses on the variation and consistency levels in the early-modern printers' spelling practice, and evaluates the potential importance of extra-linguistic motivation for the identified regularising changes from the language authorities of the time, including lexicographers, spelling reformers, orthoepists, grammarians, and schoolmasters. Additionally, the book provides the reader with a brief overview of the printers' punctuation, capitalisation, and word-division conventions, as well as with selected bibliographical and textual information concerning the publication history of the Kalender of Shepherdes.

The study of orthography (spelling and writing systems), and its development over the history of language, is central to many areas of linguistic enquiry, offering insight into syntactic and morphological structures, phonology, typology, historical linguistics, literacy and reading, and the social and cultural context of language use. With contributions from a global team of scholars, this Handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of this rapidly developing field, tracing the development of historical orthography, with special emphasis on the last and present centuries. Chapters are split into five key thematic areas, with a focus throughout on the interplay between theory and practice. It also explores the methods used in studying historical orthography, and the principles involved in the development of a spelling system. Providing a critical assessment of the state of the art in the field, it is essential reading for anyone with an interest in writing systems and historical linguistics.