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Emily Kadens

@ek27.bsky.social

Law professor at Northwestern University, historian of early modern law especially English equity courts and the history of commercial practice, fan of the archives, building an AI model to automate the transcription of English secretary hand.

985 Followers  |  20 Following  |  45 Posts  |  Joined: 07.12.2023  |  1.6872

Latest posts by ek27.bsky.social on Bluesky

I have a simple lexicon of the words in my corpus of 16th and early 17th century words from primarily equity court material they we used to build our secretary hand transcription model.

23.09.2025 00:21 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I do enjoy filling out UK forms where I can declare that my address is in the county of Illinois.

19.09.2025 05:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

AI can prep them for an oral exam even on something they have not read.

11.09.2025 15:22 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I teach law, and we require the students to read cases for every class. I cold call, so they do not know when they will be called on about a case. And this year I told them that one question on the exam will be a case analysis. I hope that is motivation to learn to read cases.

11.09.2025 15:21 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I love Fahrenheit. It is more sensitive than Celsius. At certain points in the temperature range there are 3 degrees Fahrenheit for every degree Celsius. That's a big range.

27.08.2025 00:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Egerton | An AI model for secretary hand

My Transkribus model "Egerton" can give you highly accurate transcriptions if this is a representative sample of the hand. For more info see: sites.northwestern.edu/egerton/

27.08.2025 00:31 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

So glad it is working for you, Thiago!

18.08.2025 01:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, Neil!

31.07.2025 00:33 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The @transkribus.bsky.social "Egerton: English Secretary Hand" model is now public! app.transkribus.org/models/publi.... We have a website with sample transcriptions for different hands, information about our training conventions, and more: sites.northwestern.edu/egerton/

30.07.2025 16:23 β€” πŸ‘ 33    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 4
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Honestly, I could not be more surprised at how well Egerton is transcribing what I find to be the worst, most unreadable hand in the equity court files. I thought we would get to maybe 8% CER with this hand. Instead we are just over 3%. Egerton reads it better than I can!

16.07.2025 23:38 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Egerton is now ready for its public debut with a 2.89% average CER and over 1 million words. Once we have our informational website ready to go, we will submit it to @transkribus.bsky.social for publication.

14.07.2025 11:48 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Just pushed the button on running the Egerton model for the last time before we make it public. We hit 1.1 million words in the training data and 126,000 in the verification set. This has been three years in the making, but it's a great model and really accurate. @transkribus.bsky.social

06.07.2025 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 4
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Record keeping in 1592: "it is also well knowne vnto this Court that her maiesties recordes be in good saftie & not so kept as that they doe or can come vnto thandes of any her highnes Subiectes other then the officers vnto whose charge & safe custodie the same are comitted..." TNA E 112/27/241.

16.06.2025 02:02 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Posts about the Egerton secretary hand model can also be found @egerton.bsky.social

09.06.2025 18:10 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Apparently the "Egerton" model really likes this hand. Less than 2% errors, and many of those errors were of punctuation or a doubled letter (Egerton's glitch). We should be making this secretary hand model public on @transkribus.bsky.social next month.

09.06.2025 17:59 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

... and the Trawlers and Trinckers they do stand more vpp in the ffreshe water in the Ryver of Thames and they take Soles and playse and thorne backes and suceltes and buttes and such like fyshe." @thames21.bsky.social, @londonmuseum.bsky.social 3/3

04.06.2025 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

... for he sayeth the stalbotes stand vppon the Sea to take whightinges and sprattes and that the kedles otherwise Called Tymbers they stand within the Ryver of Theames and not vppon the Sea as Stalbotes do and they take Sprattes and whightinges also ... 2/3

04.06.2025 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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From the deposition of a Middlesex fisherman in 1595, in a suit in Exchequer involving a customary fee alleged to have been paid by Thames fisherman (TNA E 133/8/1176): "he sayeth there is greate difference betwene Stalbottes and keddles Trawlers and Trynckers ... 1/3

04.06.2025 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

E 133/3/381: "Charnocke said to Barker, 'what pratinge makest thou for ye Charges of a Cote, & the Apparell thow chargest me withall. ffor I coulde (sayd Charnocke) wype thy nose of all the lande thou haste' with many other Sharpe woordes wherewith the said Barker helde his peace and sayd nothinge."

26.05.2025 19:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Decoding the Past: Professor Emily Kadens uses Artificial Intelligence to bring 16th-Century Law to Life - Northwestern Pritzker School of Law News What happens when 16th-century legal documents meet artificial intelligence? Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law’s Edna B. and Ednyfed H. Williams Memorial Professor and Vice Dean Emily Kad...

Thanks to Northwestern Pritzker Law for writing about the Egerton secretary hand model on @transkribus.bsky.social
news.law.northwestern.edu/decoding-the...

22.05.2025 19:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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If you study the early modern history of London's streets, houses, inns, etc., the Chancery depositions (TNA C 24) are a rich source. The @transkribus.bsky.social "Egerton" secretary hand model found this interesting discussion of a house in the Poultrie in an interrogatory in C 24/249 box 1.

14.05.2025 12:35 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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You could also get an assist from the "Egerton" secretary hand model on @transkribus.bsky.social which is available on request (from me) now and publicly available later in the summer. It handled this document with over 97% accuracy.

09.05.2025 01:41 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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"... the defendant dyd not strike any stroke in that affray
nor dyd se any stroke stryken by any persone ..." We're training out @transkribus.bsky.social model "Egerton" to read this hand. Should be near 90% accuracy after the next model run.

31.03.2025 00:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€˜Okay which one of you accidentally added Robert Cecil to the chat?’

24.03.2025 21:16 β€” πŸ‘ 4017    πŸ” 1059    πŸ’¬ 90    πŸ“Œ 72

Didn't Egerton write something critical about Coke's report of Calvin's Case in "Lord Chancellor Egerton's Observations on the Lord Coke's Reports"?

25.03.2025 20:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Where should one go in Pembrokeshire?

20.03.2025 13:29 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Say I had four days and a car and wanted to see the best, most interesting, and most beautiful of any of Devonshire, Cornwall, and/or Wales, where specifically should I go?

20.03.2025 12:27 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

And the said George Answeered that yt would haue ben smale to his Credit And Imediately therevpon the said George standinge bare headed by the said Thomas He the said Thomas drewe out his dagger & strake the said George over the head several tymes ....

17.03.2025 19:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

called him the said George vnto him and sayd Sirra I heare saye thou hast Served a subpoena on mye father which said George sayd he had done wherevpon the said Thomas sayd yf I had ben there I would haue made thee either to haue eaten yt or carry ytt away agayne

17.03.2025 19:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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From the Chancery entry book C 33/91: "George Walwyn hath made oth That after he had Served a subpoena att the dwellinge howse of the said Turvyle at the plaintiffes suyte One Thomas Turvyle sonne to the said Edwarde beinge in the high waye neere to the said plaintiffes howse

17.03.2025 19:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

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