An Electronic Text Edition of Depositions 1560–1760 (ETED) comprises faithful manuscript transcriptions of 905 depositions from various regions in England, presented in a collection of searchable computer files in different formats. In this article we first briefly describe the features of layout rendered in ETED and then focus on those that have not been represented in the edition. Among the features investigated are the use made of empty space on the manuscript pages, space lines, alignment, different types of indentation, and features of handwriting, e.g. the use of font changes and large and/or embellished letters.
We distinguish two types of depositions in ETED, church court documents and criminal court documents. The former were copied down in the locality of the court in question at various stages of the court process while the latter were compiled in different localities and sent up to the appropriate local, county or regional court. We show that this difference is one of the factors influencing the choices that scribes made in their layout practices. We also show that while there is a great deal of variation in the visual effects used, it is also clear that scribes aimed at distinguishing the different components of the depositions and highlighting important information, e.g. the date of the document and the names of the parties involved. Finally, we comment on the benefits of editors coding for layout features in the interest of computerized searches and other research purposes.