Hand: OE Hand 1 (glosses on 2r–27v and 60v–64v; additions on 37v–42v and 65v–95v), BL Cotton Tiberius A.iii, fols. 2–173

Name: OE Hand 1 (glosses on 2r–27v and 60v–64v; additions on 37v–42v and 65v–95v)
Manuscript: BL Cotton Tiberius A.iii, fols. 2–173
Script: Unspecified
Scribe: Unspecified
Date: Saec. xi1
Place: CaCC

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

This hand is fairly regular but lacks a strong sense of cue-height and is denser and less regular on 60v–64v. Bodies of letters are small and round, and ascenders are usually significantly longer than minims and have heavy split wedges. Descenders are about as long as minims in the additions and longer in the gloss, are tapering, and turn left at the bottom. Minims have wedges and horizontal feet. A somewhat rounded but essentially teardrop-shaped a was used, although Caroline and occasionally flat-topped a are also found. The same rounded teardrop was also used in æ, the tongue of which is straight and rising. Round c is normal, although a long hook is also found. The back of d is round, very short, and barely reaches above cue-height. Round e was used, although the back can be fairly straight and nearly horned, and the tongue and hook are like those of æ. The tongue of f is long and rising, and the hook is somewhat angular. The top of g is flat or slightly concave down, the mid-section hangs from the centre and is narrow, and the tail is closed in a round loop in the book-hand but in the glosses is wide and is either open or is closed with a long angular tick-stroke. The shoulders of h, m, and n are very round, but that of r is more angular. Only tall s was used, the letter standing firmly on the base-line and sometimes extending above ascenders; s+t ligatures are found on 60r–64v. The conventional distinction was usually followed between þ and ð, although final þ was sometimes used, particularly on 60v–64v. The descender of þ is very short. The back of ð on 37v–42v is long and curves up at the tip, and the through-stroke is hooked up on the right. The ð in the gloss is similar but the back is usually concave down, and those on 65v–95v are often very long, angled at about 30–40°, and turned down at the tip, and the cross-stroke here is hooked down on the right. The upper branches of x curve down, the lower branches curve up, and the lower left branch is long. An alternative form of x is also found with a straight left-right stroke, a hooked north-east branch, and a straight tapering south-west branch. Straight-limbed dotted y was used most often, the right branch hooked left, but round dotted y is also found. The top of 7 is concave up and the down-stroke is straight.