Variations in Letter Forms – Purdue Paleography Project

* Note: For the purpose of this tutorial, examples from both the Isaiah manuscript and the Timothy manuscript have been used.

There are three different forms of the letter “s”.

1) The first “s” looks completely recognizable to our modern eye. This “s” is used at

the ends of words or at the beginning of words. Here are some examples of regular “s” at the end of words:

From the Isaiah manuscript:

deus:

vobis:

From the Timothy manuscript:

elatus:

puras:

Here are several examples of regular “s” at the beginnings of words:

From the Timothy manuscript:

siquis:

sed:

si:

2) There is a more angular, final “s” that is used only at the ends of words. This “s”

is most frequently used at the very end of the line. However, it also appears as the final “s” in words positioned in the middle of the line.

Here are some examples. Notice the very short, more vertical, lower curve of the “s” and the way that the top curve comes all the way around and connects back to the body of the “s”.

From the Isaiah manuscript:

hominis:

creans:

quis:

In looking at the Isaiah manuscript, one might conclude that the “s” above is used only when space is tight at the end of a line of text. But below is a regular “s” at the end of a line of text without enough space. Notice that this regular “s” also extended over the vertical boundary line:

creans:

Here are some examples of the more angular, final “s” from the Timothy manuscript. These examples are also from words at the very end of a line. Notice that sometimes, but not always, the angular, final “s” is written in superscript in the Timothy manuscript:

diaconos:

opus:

o(mn)is:

tuus:

In the Isaiah manuscript, this angular, final “s” only appears at the very end of a line, but in the Timothy manuscript, angular, final “s” also appears in the middle of the line. Here are some examples:

ineptas:

filios:

3) There is also a tall “s” that is used most frequently at the very beginning of words and

in the middle of words, and less frequently at the ends of words.

Here are some examples of tall “s” in the middle of words:

From the Isaiah manuscript:

estis:

novissima:

Here are some examples of tall “s” at the beginning of words:

From the Isaiah manuscript:

spinam:

sunt:

Here are some examples of the tall “s” at the beginning, middle, and ends of words in the Timothy manuscript.

Tall “s” at the beginning of a word:

sunt:

Tall “s” at the end of a word:

deus:

levantes:

mulieres:

Tall “s” at the middle and end of a word:

novissimis:

Tall “s” at the beginning, middle, and end of a word:

suspiciones: Note: “t” for “c”

There are two different forms of the letter “r”:

There is an “r” that looks like modern “r”

There is also an “r” that bears little resemblance to modern “r”. We can call this

“r” “post bow r” because it is used after bowed letters like “b”, “d”, “o”, and “p”.

Here are some examples from the Isaiah manuscript:

Regular “r”

alteri:

egredietur:

Post-bow “r”:

After “b” in tenebras:

After “d” in dracones:

After “p” in priorum:

Here are two words with both types of “r”

redemptor:

oriantur:

NOTE: the “post bow r” looks much more like a “2” in the Timothy manuscript.

Here are some examples from the Timothy manuscript:

After “o” in laborant:

After “o” in formam:

Lower case “d” is sometimes hard to recognize because it can have an ascender which slants off

to the left.

Here are some examples from the Isaiah manuscript:

Slanting “d” in dicit:

Slanting “d” in dominus:

Slanting “d” in dixit:

Here are some examples of slanting “d” from the Timothy manuscript:

Slanting “d” in Adam:

Slanting “d” in fiduciam:

Slanting “d” in domo:

Slanting “d” in dicit:

Note that the scribe of the Timothy manuscript writes a much more slanted “d” than the scribe of Isaiah manuscript. Note also that the “d” of the Isaiah manuscript has a shorter ascender and is more upright in appearance.

The scribe of the Isaiah manuscript writes the slanting “d” throughout the manuscript leaf, but the scribe of the Timothy manuscript alternates the slanting “d” with a vertical d. Here are some examples of the vertical “d” in the Timothy manuscript:

Vertical “d” in radix:

Vertical “d” in diem:

Note that the scribe of the Timothy manuscript switches between the two types of “d” indiscriminately. Here is the same word “data” written with both a slanting “d” and also with a vertical “d” in the Timothy manuscript:

Vertical “d” in data:

Slanting “d” in data:

Other letters that may be difficult to identify

The letter “z” is rare in Latin, but this is what it looks like in the Isaiah manuscript:

“z” in zelum:

The letter “y” is also rare in Latin, and it is used in interchangeably with “i” and even “j” in the manuscript leaves. See more information in the orthography section. Here is what “y” looks like in the Isaiah manuscript:

“y” in etyopiam:

“y” in Yacob (i.e. Jacob):

In the Timothy manuscript, “y” is dotted like an “i”. Here are some examples:

Dotted “y” in Tymotheo:

Dotted “y” in hypocrisi:

Observe the “h” of the Timothy scribe in the word hypocrisi above. The scribe of the Isaiah manuscript has a more difficult to recognize “h”. Notice that the bottom of the “h” is closed making it look almost like a “b”. Here are some examples:

“h” in hec:

“h” in habes:

“h” in hoc:

Litterae Notabiliores

Litterae notabiliores (“more conspicuous letters”) are what we might refer to as capital letters. Sometimes the litterae notabiliores are actual capital letters, which are also larger and with pen stroke embellishments.

Here are some litterae notabiliores from the Isaiah manuscript that we would recognize as capital letters:

Capital “d” in dicam:

Capital “e” in et:

Capital “e” in ecce:

Notice the very long tongue on the capital “e”.

Capital “f” in facti:

Capital “g” in glorificabit:

Capital “i” in ipse:

“p” in populum:

Notice that this “p” is lower case in style, with a descender extending below the line like the “p” that follows it.

U/V

In the orthography section, there is some discussion about the interchangeability of “u” and “v”.

Here are examples of capital “u/v” from the Isaiah manuscript:

Capital “u/v” in vere:

Capital “u/v” in vos:

Capital “q” in the Isaiah manuscript is difficult to recognize because it is not closed. Here are some examples:

Capital “q” in qui:

Capital “q” in quia:

Capital “q” in quis:

Important Note: Not all litterae notabiliores look like our familiar capital letter forms. In medieval manuscripts, litterae notabiliores may actually take form of lower case letters that are larger and have extra pen flourishes.

Here are some examples of litterae notabiliores from the Isaiah manuscript that look like lower case letters but take the place of capital letters and contain extra pen strokes to make them stand out:

“h” in hec:

In the Isaiah manuscript, capital “n” also looks like a larger lower case “n”. Here are some examples:

“n” in non:

“n” in noli:

Notice that the scribe of the Isaiah Manuscript has a littera notabilior “n” without much additional flourish. But observe the littera notabilior “n” of the Timothy scribe. It is difficult to tell whether it resembles our lower case “n” or our capital “n”:

Capital “n” in nam:

Capital “n” in noli:

Conclusions

It is important to keep the following things in mind regarding variation in letter forms:

1) Letter forms can vary significantly from one scribe to the next and from one manuscript

to the next. (example: the very different way the scribes write capital “n” in the Isaiah

manuscript and the Timothy manuscript)

2) The same scribe may have more than one way of forming the same letter. Letter forms

can vary within the context of a single manuscript leaf. (example: the three forms of

“s”)

3) Capital letters present particular difficulty because they are usually embellished

with extra pen strokes to make them stand out. (example: the nearly unrecognizable

“n” from the Timothy manuscript)