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scrivener
EntityQ1318187· pop 20· linked from 168 articles

Also known as scribe

thumb|Telling a problem to a public scrivener. Istanbul, 1878 thumb|An écrivain public in Chambéry, France thumb|A historical reenactment of a 15th-century scrivener recording the will of a [[man-at-arms]]

Wikidata facts

Instance of
legal profession
Subclass of
amanuensis
Image
Naya, Carlo (1816-1882) - n. 6155 - lo scrivano - ca 1865.jpg
Said to be same as
court clerk
Show 5 more facts
female form of label
pisarka
Commons category
Public letter-writers
OpenStreetMap tag
lawyer=notary
male form of label
scrivano
different from
scribe

via Wikidata · CC0

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Current role
  • Etymology
  • In literature
  • Scrivener notaries
  • Doctrine of "scrivener's error"
  • See also
  • References

thumb|Telling a problem to a public scrivener. Istanbul, 1878 thumb|An écrivain public in Chambéry, France thumb|A historical reenactment of a 15th-century scrivener recording the will of a [[man-at-arms]]

A scrivener is a professional copyist or scribe whose occupation involves writing or preparing official documents, such as deeds, contracts, mortgages, and other legal instruments, typically for a fee. The profession originated in medieval Europe amid low literacy rates, where scriveners handled essential secretarial, administrative, and notarial duties, often functioning in the lower echelons of the legal field akin to early solicitors. Scriveners later developed into notaries, court reporters, and in England and Wales, scrivener notaries. Styles of handwriting used by scriveners included secretary hand, book hand and court hand.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “scrivener” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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