Some handwritten documents are clearly written by different individuals. This 1880-era affidavit in a Civil War pension file made out by John Gililand of Astoria, Illinois, appears to have been written by more than one person–especially when one compares the handwriting above the crossed out portion with the handwriting below it.
If transcribing a document, do you indicate if it appears to have been written on by more than one person? Do you indicate when the handwriting appears to change in your transcription? This is one reason why digital images are helpful as they preserve the actual handwriting. Transcriptions are helpful for many reasons, but still having the “real deal” in terms of the handwriting can help with some types of analysis.
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