Hand: Medical Recipe (55v), BL Cotton Domitian i, fols. 2–55

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

Although Ker described this hand as ‘square, Anglo-Saxon minuscule of s. x2’, it seems rather later than this.Ker, Catalogue, p. 186 (no. 146). The pen was held fairly flat, and the hand is fairly shaded. The bodies of letters are small, and ascenders are fairly thick, straight, wedged, and between one and a half to almost three times cue-height. Descenders are also longer than minims and are usually straight. Minims have small approach-strokes and rising feet. The top and back of a were written with a single stroke, although the length and angle of the top varies; the resultant form can therefore be flat-topped or more rounded but the left side is always convex. The same form was also used for æ, although it is usually wider and the top more consistently angled at about 30°; the hook is always low but somewhat angular, and the tongue is straight and slightly rising. Round c and e are both found, although the bodies can be quite angular; e is never tall, and the hook and tongue are like those of æ. Bilinear d was used with the horizontal back extending beyond the body. The hook of f is short, and the tongue long and straight. The mid-section of g is very open and hangs from the left of the flat head, and the tail reaches down about twice minim-length and is angled down or turned horizontal at the tip. The down-strokes of h, m, and n are straight but can angle in slightly to the left, but that of r is usually angled out. One example of tall s precedes c (sceolon, 55v4), but otherwise the form is low. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was used (except ða); ð has a long, thick, slightly concave-down back angled at about 30–40°, with a rising hook-stroke which turns sharply downward and does not always transect the back. No x is found. Straight-limbed undottedy was used. The top of 7 is long and flat but sometimes has a small hook up on the left; the down-stroke is wavy.