Early Stuart England was awash in handwriting. Handwriting was the medium of property records, law, account books, and scholarly note taking. A large share of government was conducted through handwritten policy briefs, registers, and circular letters. Equally, it was the medium of prisoners, beggars, petitioners, and village wits. Collectors compiled handwritten poems, prophecies, speeches, recipes, and anecdotes. The number of English people who knew how to operate a printing press was probably in the low hundreds, the number who could write at least a bit likely in the hundreds of thousands. Writing was accessible, widely understood, and practiced. It was the medium to hand.

中文翻译：

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专题论坛：早期斯图亚特英格兰的笔迹与力量

早期的斯图尔特英格兰充满了笔迹。手写是财产记录、法律、账簿和学术笔记的媒介。政府的很大一部分是通过手写的政策简报、登记册和通函进行的。同样，它是囚犯、乞丐、请愿者和村民智慧的媒介。收藏家们汇编了手写的诗歌、预言、演讲、食谱和轶事。知道如何操作印刷机的英国人可能只有几百人，至少会写一点字的人可能有几十万人。写作是易于理解、广泛理解和实践的。这是手头的媒介。