Hand: Added Writ (170v), BnF latin 943

Name

Added Writ (170v)

Manuscript

BnF latin 943

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. xi in.

Place

Sherborne

Stokes, English Vernacular Script, ca 990–ca 1035, Vol. 2 (PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2006)

The aspect of this fairly regular hand is dominated by the thin pen, the small bodies, and the long ascenders and descenders. Wedges on ascenders are small and sometimes entirely absent, and descenders are straight. Minims have small approach-strokes and can have small feet, and descenders have larger wedges. A rounded a is found, sometimes teardrop-shaped but sometimes with a flatter top formed in the same stroke as the back. A more consistently round form is found in æ, the tongue of which is straight and the hook rounded but rising slightly above cue-height. Round c was used, as was d with a round back rising slightly above cue-height. Round e is also found, the tongue sometimes horizontal and sometimes rising, the hook sometimes turned back to the left and shorter than the tongue, and the back sometimes angled in to the left. The tongue and hook of f are both short. The top of g is flat, the mid-section hangs from slightly left of centre and curves out a little, then bends back to the right, then down and left before hooking up at the tip in a nearly closed loop. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all relatively angular and branch from below cue-height. Low s is normal, but the tall form is found sometimes before t, c, and wynn, and stands firmly on the base-line. The scribe usually followed the conventional distinction between ð and þ (but note cuþe and ðam, lines 1 and 5 of the text). The back of ð is long, straight, and angled at about 60°, and the through-stroke is hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the right branch hooked left and the tail concave up. The top of 7 is long and rises slightly, and the down-stroke vertical.