> > Was just fortunate enough to find a will written in 1888.....in > > German and in script so I can't even make out majority of individual > > letters to send to any of the on-line translation services. > > You'll probably be reading a lot more German script if you are just > back to 1888 and are already finding it. You may want to teach > yourself to decipher what will no doubt be the first of many such > documents you'll need to read as you work your way back in your > family history. > > This book was immensely helpful to me: "If I Can, You Can Decipher > Germanic Records", by Edna Bentz. It's a small, home-made spiral > bound book and sells for about $12. > > Halltall@aol.com Actually, I believe the price is $16.50 but there is a better book for learning to read old script that you can get for the time it takes to download it. It is "A Genealogical Handbook of German Research" by Larry Jensen. There are 3 chapters that give you a method for learning the script rather than having to compare everything to a list of sample alphabets. You will be doing some of that of course but regardless of how many alphabets you collect there will always be some unreadable words. Ever try reading your doctor's prescription? You do not have to know the language to transcribe it. Of course some knowledge is helpful as you can make and educated guess when you cannot read every letter in a word but you can still manage quite well with practice. Go to: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/RG/frameset_rhelps.asp Click on G in the alphabet at the top of the page and then scroll down to Germany. You can download a PDF file and print out the parts you wish. It is easier to find someone that can translate it once you have transcribed it than it is to find someone that can read the script. Also once it is transcribed you can post it or send it by email to get help in translating. Try it, you may even find you enjoy it. Good luck, Celia "Celia Mitschelen" <cmitsch@ix.netcom.com>