Hand: Medical texts (139rv, 136r1–6), BL Cotton Galba A.xiv

Name

Medical texts (139rv, 136r1–6)

Manuscript

BL Cotton Galba A.xiv

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. xi1

Place

Leominster

Catalogue Number

Scragg 490

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

These texts are very difficult to make out due to severe damage to the manuscript. The hand is fairly regular, the letters are somewhat rounded, and the pen is thin. Ascenders are longer than minims and have small wedges, and descenders are long, straight, and tapering. The body of a looks flat-topped in ligature after e but is difficult to discern. The flat-topped form also seems to have been used in æ, the hook of which forms a tall bulging ligature where possible. Round c was used, as was round d with a medium-length and slightly concave-down back angled at about 45°. Round e was used with a rising straight tongue and round hook, but the letter is also found in a tall bulging ligature. The tongue and hook of f are both short. The top of g is long and flat, the mid-section hangs from slightly left of centre and bulges out to the left before turning back to the right, and the tail is wide and closed. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all somewhat angular and branch below cue-height. Low s was used. The conventional distinction between þ and ð seems to have been followed. The back of ð is straight, medium length, and the through-stroke is long and straight without a hook.