Hand: Hand 1 (homilies and lives of Saints; fols. 1–3, 7), Gloucester 35, fols. 1–7

Name: Hand 1 (homilies and lives of Saints; fols. 1–3, 7)
Manuscript: Gloucester 35, fols. 1–7
Script: Unspecified
Scribe: Unspecified
Date: Saec. xi1
Place: Unknown

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

This hand is somewhat rounded at first and has a good deal of contrast in its strokes but becomes darker and denser on 2v where it is much like G.315-1, and then becomes more angular and forward-leaning on folio 3 where it is not unlike G.500-1. Ascenders are short, often only half the length of minims, and have small wedges which can themselves have hairlines extending up and right. Descenders are slightly longer than ascenders but still shorter than minims, and are straight but can thicken very slightly at the tip. Minims are straight and fairly upright and have approach-strokes and small feet. A fairly wide teardrop-shaped a appears throughout, although the top is straight and meets the lower curve at about mid-height, the upper right corner can be more rounded, and the back occasionally descends below the bowl. A similar structure was used for æ except that the top-stroke is even more horizontal and is sometimes entirely absent, and the bowl is therefore often narrower and less teardrop-shaped than a alone. The eye of æ is normally round and small, and the tongue straight and rising, but a tall bulging form was frequently used which reaches forward towards the next letter before turning very slightly back to the left and meeting the horizontal tongue. Round c was used throughout, as was bilinear d with a small bowl and a back which tises slightly but still remains below cue-height. Round e is found throughout with a small eye and a rising straight tongue like those of low æ. The tongue of f is thin, flat, very long, reaches well past the hook, and touches the following letter. The top of g can be flat or slightly ~-shaped, the mid-section is small and hangs from the centre, and the tail curves around in a round, open hook before turning up at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, and n are usually quite angular and the bodies are narrow, but the shoulder of r tends to be wider and more rounded, and the foot is long, thin, and horizontal but curves up. Low, tall, and round s are all found with little apparent distinction: tall s tends to appear initially, before t or wynn, and sometimes finally, but low s was also often used in these positions, and the tall form also appears in eadsige (1r7 and 1v22). Round s is less common but was used finally (hælendes, 1r13; drihtnes, 1r27; þæs, 1v12; wæs, 2r8). Tall s sits firmly on the base-line and has a long, open hook. The upper hook of round s is small, and the letter extends slightly above cue-height. The top of t can be ~-shaped like the top of g. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was followed throughout. The back of ð is long, thick, and angled at about 40º before turning up and often back to the right, and the through-stroke is long, extends well to the right, and hooks up in a thick stroke at the tip. The south-west branch of x is long and has a thick upward hook at the tip, the north-east branch is hooked left, and the left-to-right stroke is thick and straight. Straight-limbed dotted y appears throughout; like x, the tail is hooked up at the tip, the right arm is hooked right, and the left-to-right stroke is thick. The tail of y is short, however, even compared to the short descenders. The top of 7 is flat but hooked up slightly on the left, and the down-stroke is thick and vertical.