Hand: Hand 3 (134v1–138r17, 145r9–145v17, 153v10–156r11), BL Cotton Julius A.x, fols. 44–175

Name

Hand 3 (134v1–138r17, 145r9–145v17, 153v10–156r11)

Manuscript

BL Cotton Julius A.x, fols. 44–175

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. x/xi

Place

Unknown

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

This hand is relatively wide and shows good word-separation and little interference between lines of script. The hand clearly preserves elements of Square minuscule in both aspect and letter-form. Ascenders vary but are usually fairly long and have wide wedges. Descenders can be very short or can be long and tapering, especially with f and s. The tops of minims have small wedges or approach-strokes, and the bottoms have small ticked feet. The top of a is straight and can be flat or quite angled, and the left-hand side can be vertical or more convex. The a-component of æ is similar but is more consistently flat-topped, the tongue is horizontal and at cue-height, and the hook is low when not in ligature but is tall and open whenever a ligature is possible. Round c is found throughout, and the back of d is short, rounded, and close to bilinear; a truly bilinear form is also found with a straight but approximately horizontal back. Horned e was used, the body of which can be quite wide, the tongue long, and the hook low and wide. The tongue of e is curved up if the letter is final. As for æ, tall-e ligatures were used whenever possible, including before a and o. The tongue of f is long and flat, the hook usually branches from about one third of the way between base-line and cue-height, and the stroke possibly extends all the way to the tip of the descender. The top of g is short and flat, the mid-section hangs from the right and bulges out to the left before turning back horizontally to the right, and the tail curves around in a wide, closed loop. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all somewhat but not especially angular. The down-stroke of k extends slightly below the base-line, the lower branch does not quite reach the base-line, and the upper branch is hooked down. The left side of o is often quite vertical, and the top meets slightly below the left side; the letter therefore can be close to horned, although this seems more by clumsiness than by design. Low, tall, and round s are all found, tall before t and often initially, low s in any position except before t, and round s infrequently. Tall s stands firmly on the base-line and is essentially Caroline; it sometimes forms a Caroline s+t ligature. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was loosely followed but exceptions are fairly frequent (eorþan, for þonðe, ða, ðon). The back of ð is of medium length and quite rounded, and the through-stroke is hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed y was used, both with and without the dot, as was dotted round y. The right branch of straight-limbed y is hooked left and the tail hooked right, whereas round y has a very short tail and is approximately bilinear. The top of 7 can be very wide and is usually slightly above cue-height but can be at ascender-height. The top of 7 has a very slight finial on the left, and the descender is angled slightly left.