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Parkes [Parkes
E N G L IS H C U R S IV E B O O K H A N D S
1250-1500
 ENGLISH
CURSIVE BOOK HANDS
1250-1500

M. B. P A R K E S
 First published I969 by Oxford University Press

Published 2008 by Ashgate Publishing

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Parkes, Malcolm Beckwith
English cursive book hands, I 250-1500. -I st ed.
reprinted with minor revisions.
I. Paleography, English
I. Title
745.6'I Z1 I5.E5
ISBN 978-0-85967-535-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Parkes, M. B. (Malcolm Beckwith)
English cursive book hands, I 250-I500. by M. B. Parkes
p. em.
Reprint of the reprinted ed. (with minor revisions) by Scolar Press, I979;
originally published in 1969 by Oxford University Press.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN I3: 978-o-85967-535-2 (alk. paper)
ISBN 10: o-85967-535-I (alk. paper)
1. Paleography, English. 2. Manuscripts, Medieval-England-Facsimiles.
I. Title.

ZI I5.E5 P37 2oo8

41I'.7-dc22
2008034478

ISBN 13: 978-o-85967-535-2 (hbk)

FOR PAM
 PREFACE
T h i s is intended to be a teaching book. The emphasis is entirely upon the major varieties
of English cursive handwriting in this period, and the principal developments which took
place in them. Unfortunately limitations of space have prevented any discussion of
abbreviations used by the scribes, or of changes in the format of manuscripts, but the
reader will find some observations on these topics in the notes to the plates. References
in the footnotes and the notes to the plates are not intended to be exhaustive, but to
provide a starting-point for further inquiries. For the benefit of the student I have
included notes on the terminology I have used and on the transcriptions.
Where possible I have preferred to choose a plate from a dated or a datable manu­
script, even though this has meant that occasionally I have had to include a plate from
a manuscript which has already been reproduced elsewhere. However, since most of
the manuscripts which I have used to illustrate Secretary book hands are undated, I
have included a sequence of extracts from documents to illustrate the criteria for
dating. I am conscious that in some cases a particular plate has been chosen to illustrate
so many features that it fails to illustrate any one of them very well. All plates are
reproduced to the actual size of the manuscript unless otherwise stated. Whenever
possible I have referred to other reproductions which occur in printed books or col­
lections of facsimiles. I have relied entirely upon such collections to illustrate the
development of the Anglicana script in documents, and developments in French
document hands.
I wish to thank all those colleagues who have patiently answered my questions. In
particular I must single out Professor N. Davis, Dr. A. I. Doyle, Dr. R. W. Hunt, and
Professor F. Wormald, who have not only furnished information but have advised,
criticized, and corrected my errors at various stages. I owe a special debt to Mr. N. R.
Ker: he not only supervised my early work on English handwriting but he has given
advice at all stages since, and has helped me to clarify my ideas in the course of many
vigorous discussions. For their patience, encouragement, and generosity with their
time I am sincerely grateful. I remain solely responsible for the views expressed in this
book.
I must also thank my pupils who have not only given most helpful advice about the
presentation of the material from the reader’s point of view but have also shared in
the burden of checking my transcriptions. Although it is invidious to single out names,
I must acknowledge a particular debt to Miss P. R. Robinson, because her pertinent
criticisms and suggestions at an early stage helped me to formulate my ideas on the
layout of the book.
J M. B. P.

Keble College, Oxford

A pril ig6g
 PREFACE TO THE REPRINT
I h a v e taken advantage of the opportunity afforded by this reprint to make a number
of corrections, and, where practicable, to bring certain references up to date: I have
also added indexes. Nothing has so far come to light which seems to call for a funda­
mental revision of the book, and I have felt reluctant to tinker with minor points for
fear of disturbing the balance. However, I have added references both in footnotes and
in the Select Bibliography to some of the more pertinent recent studies. In 1973 the
book, manuscript, and map Departments of the British Museum became divisions of
the British Library, but it has proved impracticable to alter the location from ‘British
Museum’ to ‘British Library’ in references to shelfmarks in the national collections.
M. B. P.

Keble College , Oxford

January i g j g
 CONTENTS
REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATION S xi

IN TRO D U CTIO N xiii

A N O T E ON P A L A E O G R A P H IC A L T E R M S xxvi

SELECT BIBLIO GRAPH Y xxvii

A N O T E ON TH E T R A N S C R IP T IO N S xxviii

L IS T OF PLATE S xxxi

PLATES, NOTES, AND TR A N SCR IPTIO N S 1-24

Anglicana Book Hands Plates 1-3
Anglicana Formata 4-6
Bastard Anglicana 7-8

The Development of Secretary as Determined by Hands in Documents 9-IO

Secretary Book Hands II-I3

Bastard Secretary I 4_ I 5
The Handwriting of University Scribes 16-18
Developments in the Hierarchy of Scripts 19-20
The Handwriting of Individual Scribes 21-24

I N D E X I. Medieval Persons Connected with the Manuscripts Illustrated 25

I N D E X II. Scribes Mentioned but not Illustrated 26

 REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS
References to the plates frequently include column (a or b), line number, and word. Thus Plate 6
(ii), a, 4 ‘thinges’ indicates the word ‘thinges’ in line 4 of the first column in Plate 6 (ii).
The principal abbreviations used in the introduction and the notes to the plates are:
Allen (1927) H. E. Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle , Hermit of Hampole (London
and New York, 1927).
Archiv Archiv fiir das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen (1846- ).
Bibl. Nat. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale.
Bodl. Oxford, Bodleian Library.
Brit. Mus. London, British Museum.
circa.
Cat. Royal M S S . G. F. Warner and J. P. Gilson, Catalogue o f Western Manuscripts in the O ld
Royal and King's Collections in the British Museum (London, 1921).
Coxe H. O. Coxe, Catalogus Codicum M S S qui in Collegiis Aulisque Oxoniensibus
hodie adservantur (Oxford, 1852).
CPL. E. Dekkers, ‘Clavis Patrum Latinorum’, Sacris Erudiri, iii (2nd edition,
Bruges, 1961).
CSEL. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna, 1866- ).
CT. Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Canterbury Tales’, ed. F. N. Robinson, The Works
of Geoffrey Chaucer (2nd edition, London, 1957).
ECH . C. Johnson and H. Jenkinson, English Court Hand , a .d . 1066-1500 (Oxford,
1915), i, Text, ii, Plates,
ed. edited by.
E .E .T.S. (e.s .) Early English Text Society, Extra Series (London, 1867-1920).
E .E .T.S. (o.s.) Early English Text Society, Original Series (London, 1864- ).
Emden, B R U C . A. B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Cambridge to 1500
(Cambridge, 1963).
Emden, B R U O . A. B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to a .d .
1500 (Oxford, 1957-9).
fol. folio.
Hammond (1908) E. P. Hammond, Chaucer , A Bibliographical Manual (New York, 1908).
Index C. Brown and R. H. Robbins, The Index of Middle English Verse (New York,
1943). Supplement, ed. R. H. Robbins and J. L. Cutler (Lexington, 1965).
James M . R. James, The Western Manuscripts in the Library o f Trinity College,
Cambridge, A Descriptive Catalogue (Cambridge, 1900-4).
LCH . H. Jenkinson, The Later Court Hands in England (Cambridge, 1927).
Mss. dates C. Samaran and R. Marichal, Catalogue des manuscrits en ecriture latiney
portant des indications de date de lieu ou de copiste (Paris, 1959- )•
N. Pal. Soc. i New Palaeographical Society, Facsimiles o f Ancient M S S & c .y ed. E. M.
Thompson, G. F. Warner, F. G. Kenyon, and J. P. Gilson, 1st series
(London, 1903-12).

xi
N. Pal. Soc. ii New Palaeographical Society, Facsimiles o f Ancient M S S & c . y ed. E. M.
Thompson, G. F. Warner, F. G. Kenyon, and J. P. Gilson, 2nd series
(London, 1913-30).
OED. Oxford English Dictionary.
O .H .S. Oxford Historical Society.
Pal. Soc. i Palaeographical Society, Facsimiles o f M S S . and Inscriptions, ed. E. A. Bond,
E. M. Thompson, and G. F. Warner, 1st series (London, 1873-83).
Pal. Soc. ii Palaeographical Society, Facsimiles of M S S . and Inscriptions, ed. E. A. Bond,
E. M. Thompson, and G. F. Warner, 2nd series (London, 1884-94).
PL. Patrologiae Cursus Completus, series latina, accurante J. P. Migne.
Powicke, M B M C . F. M. Powicke, The Medieval Books o f Merton College (Oxford, 1931).
P.R.O. London, Public Record Office.
RS. Rolls Series; i.e. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores (London,
1858-96).
Sarton G. Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science , II. From Rabbi ben Ezra
to Roger Bacon (Washington, i (1927), ii (1931)).
SC. A Summary Catalogue o f Western M S S . in the Bodleian Library at Oxford
(Oxford, 1895-1953).
sig. signature.
STC. A. W. Pollard and G. R. Redgrave, A Short Title Catalogue o f Books printed
in England , Scotland and Ireland 1475-1640 (London, 1950).
Stegmiiller, Bibl. F. Stegmiiller, Repertorium Biblicum M edii A evi (Madrid, 1950-61).
Thorndike and Kibre L. Thorndike and P. Kibre, A Catalogue o f Incipits o f Medieval Scientific
Writings in Latin (rev. edition, 1963).
Ward, Cat. Romances H. L. D. Ward and J. A. Herbert, Catalogue o f Romances in the Department
o f Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1883-1910).
Wells J. E. Wells, A M anual o f the Writings in Middle English , 1050-1400 (New
Haven, 1926, and supplements).
Wright, E V H . C. E. Wright, English Vernacular Hands from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth
Centuries (Oxford, i960).
Young and Aitken J. Young and P. H. Aitken, A Catalogue oj the M S S . in the Library o f the
Hunterian Museum in the University o f Glasgow (Glasgow, 1908).

Xll
 IN T R O D U C T IO N
F rom the mid twelfth century onwards, the nature of the developments which took
place in English book hands was largely determined by two factors: the increasing
demand for books, and the increase in the size of the works to be copied. The seculari­
zation of learning and the rise of the universities created a voracious demand for texts
and commentaries. At the same time improving standards of literacy led to a demand
from a wide range of patrons for books of a more general nature. The size of the com­
mentaries upon the Bible, the ‘Sentences’, and the civil and canon law increased as each
new generation enlarged upon the work of its predecessors; and in poetry, works like
the ‘Cursor Mundi’ (some 30,000 lines) and the ‘Roman de la Rose’ (some 20,000 lines
in its final form) imposed heavy demands upon the time and energy of the scribes
who copied them. The reaction of a scribe to such demands is occasionally revealed in
comments like the one found in the colophon of a fourteenth-century manuscript:
Explicit secunda pars summe fratris thome de aquino ordinis fratrum predicatorum, longissima,
prolixissima, et tediosissima scribenti; Deo gratias, Deo gratias, et iterum Deo gratias.1

In such circumstances speed and ease of writing came to be as important to the scribe
who copied books as they had become to the scribe who prepared or drafted documents.2
Scribes began to use different kinds of handwriting for different classes of books, and
as a result a new ‘hierarchy’ of scripts arose, each with its own sequence of develop­
ment. For finer-quality manuscripts, such as liturgical books in which the appearance
of the book was a most important consideration, the scribes developed an elaborate,
highly calligraphic ‘display’ script known as ‘Textura’.3 It gradually became more
artificial, less affected by practical considerations, and in consequence less used, as
time passed. But for more utilitarian volumes, the increasing demands upon the time
and energy of the scribes and the need to conserve space led to the development of
smaller, simpler hands both to keep books within a manageable format and to accelerate
the process of production. At first they took as their model the handwriting used about
1200 for writing commentaries in the margins of texts.4 From this they developed what
are sometimes referred to nowadays as the smaller ‘gothic’ book hands,5 which became
highly compressed, closely spaced, and full of abbreviations.6 The size and compres­
sion of the hands gave little scope for style, and the traditions of the earlier hands were

1 Oxford, N ew College, M S . 121, fol. 376v. 1939), pis. 43. 47; and Pal. Soc. i, pi. 37.
2 See E C H .y pp. xiv-xv. 5 For examples see Cat. Royal M S S ., pis. 37,
3 For accounts of the development of Textura 56 (c), 89 (a); Facsimile of M S . Bodley 34, E .E .T .S .
see S. Morison, ‘ Black Letter ’ Text (Cambridge, (o.s.), 247; W . W . Greg, Facsimiles of Twelve Early
1942); and R. W . H u nt’s article ‘Palaeography’ in English M S S . in the Library of Trinity College, Cam­
Chambers' Encyclopaedia (London, 1952), x. For bridge (Oxford, 1913), pis. v and vi; J. Destrez,
a fifteenth-century example of the script see La Pecia dans les mss. universitaires du xiiie et
below Plate 22 (ii). du xive siecle (Paris, 1935), pis. 2 7 -3 1; and Wright,
4 For examples of the ‘glossing hands’ at this EVH.y pis. 10, 11.
date see R. A . B. Mynors, Durham Cathedral 6 See below Plate 16 (ii).
M S S . to the End of the Twelfth Century (Oxford,

Xlil
soon abandoned. Later, towards the end of the thirteenth century, the cursive script
which had recently been evolved for the preparation of documents was introduced into
books.
A hierarchy also arose in the cursive script itself, as scribes began to devise more
than one way of writing depending on the degree of formality they required. Scribes
who drafted documents began to distinguish between the handwriting used for a docu­
ment actually issued, the ‘engrossing hand’, and that used for the mere enrolment of
a document for reference purposes.1 The two ways of writing were taken up and adapted
by scribes who wrote books, and the practice culminated in a major development in
the hierarchy of scripts: the evolution of a hierarchy of varieties of a single script.
Eventually the varieties of cursive usurped the functions of other scripts in the copying
of nearly all kinds of books and documents. Some of these varieties lost their cursive
nature, but all of them betray their cursive origin in the shapes of the letter forms
and in the character of their calligraphy. The purpose of this book is to illustrate the
developments which took place in the cursive handwriting used in England for writing
books.

THE ‘ A N G L I C A N A ’ SCRI PT IN THE T H I R T E E N T H AND

F OURT E ENT H CENTURI ES

The traditional English cursive script of the later Middle Ages was developed primarily
from the current handwriting which arose in the course of preparing documents.2 In
order to write more rapidly, the scribe modified the duct3 of his handwriting, wherever
possible replacing straight strokes with curved ones which are more easily controlled
when writing quickly. The scribe raised his pen from the surface as seldom as possible.
Thus, as he manipulated the pen to trace the strokes of which the letters are composed,
most of its movements were recorded upon the writing surface. The finishing move­
ment of one stroke and the approach movement to the next tended to coalesce into
a single movement which was recorded as a connecting stroke. This occurred not only
between letters but also between the strokes which combined to make up a single
letter, as, for example, in f, long-s, and in the ascender of d. These connecting strokes
gradually came to be accepted as auxiliary features of the letter forms, thus becoming
part of the morphology of the script. As a result of this process a set of distinctive letter
forms emerged. At the same time the rapid duct became the basis of the style of the
handwriting. The whole process took a long time, but when this stage had been reached,
a cursive script had been evolved.4
A cursive script with recognizable characteristics of its own and which is recognizably
akin to the later hands had emerged by the middle of the thirteenth century.5 Its
distinctive letter forms are: two-compartment a, with a large upper lobe extending

1 See E C H ., pp. x iv -x v ; L . C.H ector, The Hand­ p. xx vi.

writing of English Documents (London, 1966), p. 56. 4 On the use of the term ‘ cursive’ as applied to
2 T h is development is illustrated in the frontis­ a category of script of this period see G . I. Lieftinck,
piece to vol. ii of E C H ., and ibid., pis. ii (c) and (d). ‘Pour une nomenclature de l’ecriture livresque
3 T h e rise of the rapid duct may be followed in de la periode dite “ gothique” ’, Nomenclature des
E C H ., pis. i (b) and (c). For an explanation of ecritures livresques dn ixe au xvie siecle (Paris,
the terminology used in describing handwriting 1954), P- 19-
in this book see Note on Palaeographical Terms, 5 For example, E C H ., pi. xiii (b).

XIV
above the general level of the other letters; d with a looped ascender; f and long-s in
which the stem descends below the line of writing, curves to the left at the foot, and is
frequently followed by a connecting stroke rising to the head of the letter; ‘8’-shaped
two-compartment g; long-tailed r; and a cursive version of short-s based upon the
capital form (Plate i (i)).
Until about 1325 the features of this cursive handwriting changed frequently as
scribes acquired fluency in the idiom of the new script and explored its potentialities.1
In the second half of the thirteenth century they tended to exaggerate certain sub­
sidiary features of the letter forms to achieve calligraphic effect (Plates 1 (i), 4 (i)).
The best examples of this are the elaboration of the forked ascenders of the letters
b, h, k, and 1, and the elaboration of the approach stroke to the stem of the letters
f and long-s. This curves above the letter making it look as if it had a double head
(Plate 4 (i)). Most scribes seem to have held or cut the pen at an extremely oblique
angle, so that the broad strokes made with the width of the pen merely serve to emphasize
the already elaborate subsidiary features, such as the ascenders and the heavy diagonal
in the looped ascender of d. The predominant threadlike strokes do not always give
adequate characterization to the body of the letters: especially to the minim strokes
which make up the letters i, m, n, and u. The angle of the pen also gives to the hand­
writing what appears to be a backward slope. These mannerisms tended to hinder the
process of rapid writing, and perhaps distracted the reader.
In hands written about the beginning of the fourteenth century we can see scribes
imposing reforms of a practical nature upon the script. Some of these were designed to
promote greater facility in writing. Contrary movements of the pen were replaced by
movements which followed the same direction. This reform is reflected in changes in
the shapes of the letter forms. The elaborate forked ascenders disappeared, and the
scribes developed the approach stroke to the right of the ascender into either a flat-
topped loop or a pronounced hook (Plates 1 (ii), 4 (i)). A new cursive form of e appeared
in which the stem and lobe of the letter were formed in a single circular movement
(Plate 2 (i)). Other reforms established clearer distinctions between the graphs, or
component letters of the alphabet of the script. The scribes now invariably continued
the stroke forming the limb of the letter h below the line of writing into a short descender
to prevent possible confusion with the letter b.2 In the letter r the connecting stroke
between the descending stem and the shoulder stroke became more prominent (Plate
1 (ii)). The shoulder itself diminished, and during the course of the fourteenth century
gradually disappeared, since by this time the descender and the prominent connecting
stroke had made the graph sufficiently distinctive.
At about the same time the scribes changed the angle of the pen from very oblique
to almost upright. This is most immediately obvious in such details as the elimination
of the heavy diagonal stroke in the looped ascender of d. The handwriting appears to
be more vertical, and the strokes acquired added dimension. The use of the distinc­
tion between broad strokes and hairlines in the construction of the letters gave more

1 T h e development of the script in documents had been joined to the hook at the left of the top
of the thirteenth century may be followed in E C H .y of the ascender by means of a connecting stroke
pis. xiv-xix, and in L . C. Hector, op. cit., pis. (Plates 1 (i), 16 (i)), but the elimination of forked
iv (b), v (a), vi-vii (a). ascenders had made this movement unnecessary,
2 In the thirteenth-century hands the limb of h thus creating the possibility of confusing h and b.

xv
adequate characterization to the body of the letters, and especially to the minim strokes
(Plate i (ii)). Some scribes tended to vary pressure on the pen for calligraphic effect.1
As a result tapering strokes appear in the ascenders, descenders, the head of the letter
a, and at the heads of minims. Despite such occasional mannerisms, the reforms as
a whole enabled the scribes to produce a simpler and more fluent form of handwriting.
The elimination of idiosyncratic features ensured that the script could be written more
quickly and compressed if necessary, whilst the improved distinctions between the
graphs ensured that it could be read more easily.
After these reforms the features of the handwriting changed less often. The script
settled down into the kind of handwriting which could be used not only for writing
documents but also as a cheap book hand. Its appearance in books became more
frequent. By the end of the fourteenth century there was a demand from all classes of
patrons for cheap books, and the appearance in inventories of volumes of romances,
valued often at only a shilling or two each,2 would seem to indicate some form of book
production designed to meet this demand.3 I venture to suggest that the appearance
of the script in many of the manuscripts containing romances and other vernacular
texts in the fourteenth century and later may well be connected with this form of
book production.4
This script has never been given a name. Scripts of this kind have usually been
referred to in England as ‘Court Hands’,5 or ‘Charter Hands’.6 However, since the
several varieties of this script are peculiar to manuscripts produced in England in the
fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, I propose to call it ‘Anglicana’.7

‘ an glicana form ata ’ in the fourteenth century

Anglicana in its simplest form lacked those qualities, the finish as it were, which give
to handwriting that element of dignity which is required in books. For these qualities
scribes turned to the engrossing form of the script. The earliest dated example of a book
written in the engrossing hand which I have been able to trace so far is Bodl. MS.
Bodley 406, copied in 1291 (Plate 4 (i)). The most conspicuous difference between the
1 For an example of this in a document see L. C. son suggests (L C H ., p. 5) that the use of the term
Hector, op. cit., pi. x (a). originated in the early designation of the Scri­
2 For example, the inventories of the books of veners’ Company of London, ‘scriptores litterae
K ing Richard II (P.R.O. E 101/1393/4, see E. curialis civitatis Londoniensis’. See also P. Chap-
Rickert, ‘ K ing Richard I Us Books’, The Library , lais, English Royal Documents, King John-Henry
4th series, xiii (1933); p. 144); Thomas, Duke of V I n g g -1 4 6 1 (Oxford, 1971), p. 50.
Gloucester (see Transactions of the Royal Society 6 For example, the term has been used by E.
of Literature, 2nd series, ix. 80); and those of Lon ­ Maunde Thompson, Introduction to Greek and
don merchants cited by S. L . Thrupp, The M er­ Latin Palaeography (Oxford, 1912), pp. 482, 490;
chant Class of Medieval London (Chicago, 1948), G . R. C. Davis, Medieval Cartularies of Great
p. 162. Britain (London, 1958), p. xviii; and L. C. Hector,
3 See H. E. B ell,‘T h e Price of Books in Medieval op. cit., p. 54.
England’, The Library, 4th series, xvii (1936-7), 7 M r. N . R. Ker was the first to suggest this
P- 312. name (see his Medieval Manuscripts in British
4 On the relationship between increasing literacy Libraries, i (Oxford, 1969), p. xi), but he has
and the development of cursive scripts see further applied it only to the more formal varieties of the
M . B. Parkes, ‘T h e Literacy of the Laity in the script, as being the principal forms found in books.
M iddle A g es’ , Literature and Western Civilization , I think that the name ‘ Anglicana’ should be used
The Medieval World , ed. D . Daiches & A . K . to designate the script as found in both books and
T h o rlb y (London, 1973), pp. 555~77* documents, and that qualifying terms should be
5 For examples see O E D ., Court Hand. Jenkin- used to indicate the more formal varieties of it.

XVI
engrossing hand and the less formal version of the script lies in the more punctilious
formation of the letters. This is most obvious in the formation of m. In the engrossing
hand the scribes traced each minim separately and usually furnished it with a foot,
whereas in the less formal hands (Plate i (i)) the letter was made by means of a single
multiple stroke.
Towards the end of the thirteenth century and in the early years of the fourteenth,
scribes experimented in order to adapt the engrossing hand for use in books. At first
a number of idiosyncratic variants appeared,1 but when the scribes began to base their
adaptations upon the smaller ‘gothic’ book hands of a type common in university books
of the period (Plate 16 (ii)), they converted the engrossing hand into a separate, stable
variety of Anglicana which, during the course of the century, became distinct from the
less formal, parent variety in a number of ways. The body of the letter forms became
larger and acquired more squarish proportions. With the increase in the size of the hands
the letters a and short-s no longer extended so far above the general level of the other
letters, and the part of the minim stroke between the head and the foot became longer
and straighter (Plates 4 (ii), 19 (i)). In the majority of hands ascenders and descenders
are much shorter than those in the less formal variety of the script where they are almost
always at least twice as long as the minim strokes. A number of distinctive letter forms
emerged which are not found in the earlier engrossing hands: the looped ascender of
d acquired a more upright, and sometimes even straight back, and the shaft of t was
extended further above the headstroke.2 The scribes adopted the ‘capital’ form of short-s,
and in some cases the short r form, from the University book hands (Plates 2 (i), 5 (i);
cf. Plate 16 (ii)).
This variety of the script, which I propose to call Anglicana Formata,3 became the
major book hand of the fourteenth century both in the universities and outside. It
quickly replaced the smaller ‘gothic’ book hands which were becoming so cramped and
difficult to read that they were ripe for replacement (Plate 16 (ii)).

‘bastard anglicana in the fourteenth century

In the fourteenth century Textura became increasingly more artificial and more
difficult to write.4 It required a highly skilled scribe to write it well, and there is evidence
to suggest that good Textura was getting beyond the competence of some professional
scribes.5 Although a version of Textura was still used for ordinary books in the late
thirteenth century,6 by the second half of the fourteenth the scribes were using the
script only for de luxe books and for ‘displ ay’ purposes (such as headings, colophons,
1 For examples see The Auchinleck Manuscript, Master at O xford’ , Scriptorium, x (1956), p. 57.
facsimile ed. Derek Pearsall and I. C. Cunningham 5 When K ing John of France was in England in
(London, 1977), fols. 7 o -io 4 v; W right, E V H ., pi. 1359 he ordered a Psalter from ‘ Maistre Jean
12. Langlois escrivain’. Such a book would certainly
2 T h e extension of the shaft of t above the head- have been written in Textura at that time. When
stroke seems to have been a feature borrowed from the king saw the finished copy he did not buy it,
Textura (cf. Cat. Royal M S S ., pi. 32). but gave the scribe instead a noble for his pains.
3 T h is is the variety which M r. Ker has called (J. Evans, English Art 1307-1465 (Oxford, 1949),
Anglicana. P- 95-)
4 For an account of the elaborate technique re­ 6 For example see facsimile of Brit. M us. Cotton
quired see S. J. P. van Dijk, ‘A n Advertisement M S . Caligula A ix, The Owl and the Nightingale
Sheet of an early Fourteenth-Century W riting reproduced in Facsimile, E .E .T .S . (o.s.), 251.

XVII
and lemmata) in others (Plate 19 (i)). It was necessary to find something to supplement
it as a formal book hand, and for this purpose scribes developed what I propose to
call the ‘Bastard’ variety of the Anglicana script.
This Bastard hand is larger than those of Anglicana Formata, better spaced, and
with greater emphasis placed upon its calligraphic execution. It is composed of elements
and features proper to two scripts, but it is a mixture of a particular kind. A Bastard
hand is essentially the product of a union between a ‘base’ script and a ‘noble’ one:
between a cursive script, the informal handwriting of documents at the bottom of the
hierarchy, and Textura, the display script at the top.1
This variety of Anglicana emerged about the middle of the fourteenth century, and
its evolution fell into two stages. In hands written at the first, or experimental stage
(Plate 7 (i)), the nature of the mixture is obvious, because the elements belonging to the
two scripts have not been properly assimilated. On the one hand there are details
proper to Anglicana: the letters f and long-s with prominent descenders followed by
a connecting stroke; the letter d with a looped ascender; and the long-tailed r. On the
other hand there are details which belong to Textura: a version of the ‘straight-sided’
two-compartment a; the treatment of the minim strokes; and the pronounced ‘bitings’
involving even cursive forms such as the looped d. The proportions of the hand are those
of Textura. The second stage occurred later in the fourteenth century when the scribes
had become more experienced and more expert. In the hand of Plate 7 (ii), written
about the turn of the century, the proportions of the hand are less like those of Textura,
the details of the two scripts have been fully assimilated, and features of style have
crystallized. The scribe has exploited the calligraphic potentialities inherent in the duct
of the Anglicana script. The result has affected not only those features proper to
Anglicana itself but also those borrowed originally from Textura. The scribe has formed
the broken minims derived from Textura Quadrata by means of balanced curved
movements: that is to say, these strokes have been modified by something analogous
to the kind of resolution proper to current handwriting, which, as I have suggested
earlier, is the basis of the duct of the cursive script.2
The Bastard variety of the Anglicana script was used for de luxe manuscripts and
documents, and also for display purposes in others.3 In this way it usurped the func­
tions of Textura itself. Thus by the end of the fourteenth century the hierarchy of
scripts had its counterpart in a hierarchy of varieties of the Anglicana script.

1 ‘ Bastard Anglicana’ has the same relationship where the primary meaning of the word ‘Bastard’
to the less formal variety of Anglicana as Baildon is given as ‘Vulgo conceptus, begotten betwene
and de Beauchesne’s ‘ Bastard Secretary’ has to base and gentle’. Applied to handwriting this
their Secretary (see J. Baildon and J. de would make sense. On the Continent when applied
Beauchesne, A Booke Containing Divers Sortes to handwriting the term has been used in more
of Hands (London, Thomas Vautrouiller, 1571; than one sense, and was not always used in the
S T C . 6446)). Although clearly influenced by the same way as in England, see C. Wehmer, ‘Die
French term ‘ Lettre Bastarde\ Baildon and de Namen der gotischen Buchschriften’, Zentralblatt
Beauchesne could hardly have used the term fu r Bibliothekswesen, xlix (1932).
‘Bastard’ in defiance of accepted English usage. 2 See above, p. xiv.
In 1480 W illiam Worcester had used ‘littera bastard’ 3 For examples in documents see Pal. Soc. ii,
to describe the script on tabulae hanging in the pi. 159 (dated 1380), N . Pal. Soc. i, pi. 250 (c)
church at Sheen (.Itineraries, ed. J. H. Harvey (dated 1440). For an example of Bastard Anglicana
(Oxford, 1969), p. 270). A clue to the significance used for a heading in a manuscript written in
of the term in this context in the sixteenth century Anglicana Formata see W. W. Greg, Facsimiles
is furnished by R. H uloet’s Abecedarium Anglo- of Twelve Early English M S S . in the Library of
Latinum (London, G . Riddell, 1552; S T C . 13940), Trinity College, Cambridge (Oxford, 1913), pi. vii.

x v iii
 THE ‘ SE C RE T A RY ’ SCRI PT AND THE N E W STYLE OF C A L L I G R A P H Y

From about the third quarter of the fourteenth century onwards the history of English
cursive handwriting was dominated by a new factor. A new cursive script was intro­
duced into this country, a script which possessed letter forms and stylistic features
which had no counterparts in the traditional English cursive handwriting.
Most of the elements, or basic strokes, which together make up the letter forms of
this new script are common to all varieties of Anglicana. The most important distinc­
tions between the new script and the established one lie in the duct of the script and
in the treatment of strokes and letter forms (Plates 9 and 10). First, the duct of the new
script was based upon the regular antithesis of broad strokes and hairlines placed in
different diagonals according to the angle of the slanted pen, thus giving to many of
the hands a characteristic ‘splayed’ appearance.1 Secondly, angular broken strokes
appeared in places where in most other scripts one would expect to find curved ones.
This is most noticeable in the treatment of the lobes of the letters a, d, and g; in the
formation of the letters o and V-shaped r; and in the treatment of the stems of the
letters c and e. Occasionally this feature is blurred in current writing. Thirdly, ‘horns’
were frequently formed on the tops of the letters, especially e, g, t, and short final s,
and at points of breaking. Fourthly, the tapering, sloping descenders of f, long-s, and
p were exaggerated. Finally, the graphs of a, g, r, and short-s have no counterparts in
any other contemporary English script.
The cursive short r form, more than any other feature, points to a continental origin
for the new script. The ultimate place of origin is obscure, but was most probably
Italy. A cursive script with a single compartment a, single compartment g, short r, and
short-s may be seen in hands of the Italian chanceries of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries, and of the Papal Chancery at Avignon in the fourteenth.2 In the fourteenth
century it appears in Italy as a book hand.3 By the end of the fourteenth century the
new script had spread all over northern Europe, and was widely used in both books
and documents. The Italian examples, however, lack that distinctive treatment of the
letter forms and other features of style which are characteristic of the new script, not
only in England but in most of northern Europe. The script underwent some kind of
modification before being imported into this country, and there can be little doubt that
this took place in France.
The French scribes took the script and virtually transformed it. A version of the
script, which was already more elaborate than the Italian hands, was well established
by 1340 as the principal business hand of the north of France, particularly in and
around Paris.4 This version of the script was developed as a book hand during the
course of the fourteenth century by incorporating features from that species of Textura
which seems to me to be peculiar to French vernacular manuscripts of the period: in
particular, features which later became characteristic of the new script in both France
and England, such as the treatment of the minim strokes, a current form of the letter

1 Cf. LCH.y pp. 51-8. 3 See Mss. datesy vol. i, pi. xliii; vol. ii, pis. xlv,
2 See V. Federici, La scrittura delle cancellerie liii; Cat. Royal M S S . y pi. 48.
italiane dal secolo xii al xvii (Rome, 1934), taw . 4 See Recueil de facsimiles a V usage de VEcole des
xlvi, xlviii, lv-lviii. See also P. Chaplais, ‘Master Chartes (Paris, 1880-1901), nos. 81, 82, 100, 106.
John de Branketre and the Office of Notary in
Chancery 1355-1375’ , Journal of the Society of
Archivists, iv (1971), 179, and pi. I.

x ix
r, and the form of two-compartment final short-s.1 The earliest dated manuscript written
in the new script which I have been able to discover so far (Bibl. Nat., MS. fran^ais
24305, dated 1356) does not contain these features, but in the hands of manuscripts
produced in 14002 they have been so completely absorbed that they have become
fundamental to the structure of the script. Thus, during the process of adapting the
script for use as a book hand, the fluid mass of details became assimilated and co­
ordinated into a new style of calligraphy the principal aim of which was to give harmony
to the whole without losing the individuality of single letters.
One of the outstanding features of the history of English handwriting in the fifteenth
century is the gradual infiltration of this new script, which in its English form we now
call ‘ Secretary’,3 into all classes of books and documents, until by the sixteenth century
it had become the principal script in use in this country. The emergence of the script
can be traced in registers and documents. In the series of Archiepiscopal registers at
Lambeth it first occurs in some entries in Archbishop Sudbury’s Register (1375-81),
and from 1396 onwards it remains the normal hand of the clerks until it was modified
beyond recognition in the late seventeenth century. In the Archbishops’ registers at
York it appears in a notarial attestation dated 1379.4 In the registers of the Bishops of
London the script was firmly established by the time Bishop Walden’s Register began
in 1404. At Canterbury it already predominates in the earliest Register of Wills of the
Consistory Court,5 which begins in 1396, but among the records of the Prior and
Convent, its first appearance is an entry in Registrum S, dated 1401. In the collection
of Chancery Warrants6 issued under the Privy Seal or Signet the new script is first used
extensively in 1376, but it is hardly ever used in the other offices of the central govern­
ment. Its early progress as a book hand is difficult to trace owing to a general absence
of dated evidence. The script appears in a manuscript of Rolle’s ‘Emendatio Vitae’,
dated 13 84,7 and from a comparison between the hands of undated manuscripts and
dated hands in documents, it is clear that it was well established as a book hand by 1400.
Until the mid fifteenth century the features of the handwriting underwent a series
of rapid changes which reflect the uncertainty of scribes who were forced to master the
forms and idiom of a new script. The early hands are stiff, upright, and ill proportioned
(Plate 9 (i)). The more familiar Anglicana graphs of a, g, r, and short-s appear frequently
in place of the new and consequently less well-known Secretary graphs (Plates 9 (i),
11 (ii)). Scribes tended to emphasize the various stylistic features in turn. Towards
the end of the fourteenth century, in the more meticulous hands, elaborate broken
strokes were introduced into the stems as well as the lobes of the letters (Plate 9 (ii)).
In the first half of the fifteenth century scribes emphasized the horns which were formed
at the tops of letters and at points of breaking, thus giving to the handwriting a charac­
teristic ‘prickly’ appearance (Plates 10 (i), 11 (ii)). In the mid fifteenth century the letter
forms were simplified, but the degree of splay was exaggerated (Plates 10 (ii), 12 (i)).
By this time the scribes had acquired greater familiarity with the new script. They
were less affected by the precedents imposed by the graphs of Anglicana. Even the
1 See Mss. dates, vol. i, pis. Ii (1364-73), lii 4 See J. S. Purvis, Notarial Signs from the York
(1368), lvii (1379); Pal. Soc. ii, pi. 168 (1371). Archiepiscopal Records (York, 1947), pi. 33.
2 For example, Bibl. Nat. M S . frangais 205 5 Maidstone, Kent County Archives Office,
(dated 1400). PRC/32/1.
3 O n the Continent it is usually referred to as 6 See L C H .y pi. xxiii; Chaplais, English Royal
‘cursiva’ (see G . I. Lieftinck, loc. cit.). Documents, p. 52.
7 Brit. Mus. Add. M S . 34763, fols. 19-44.

XX
large hooked ascenders to which they had been accustomed, and which are to be found
frequently even in well-written Secretary hands of the first half of the century (Plates
11 (i), 1 1 (ii)), were replaced by the short ascenders with small rounded loops which are
characteristic of the new script (Plates io (ii), 12 (i)). The scribes had also acquired
greater fluency in its execution. During the second half of the century the hands are
much more current: hairlines used in the construction of the letter forms were fre­
quently omitted, but nevertheless details of style, such as the horns on the tops of the
letters, were again emphasized (Plates 10 (iii), 12 (ii)). This combination of fluency and
style afforded by the duct of the script, together with the fact that such Secretary forms
as the ascenders, and the letters a, g, and w were easier to manage than the corre­
sponding Anglicana forms when writing quickly, must have contributed to the scribes’
increasing preference for the script.1
Towards the end of the century new features appear in the hands, which can be
traced to further developments which had taken place in France during the fifteenth
century.2 The most prominent of these features are the new forms of c and short-s,
and the exaggeration of the horns at the tops of the letters (Plate 13 (ii)). The develop­
ment of the horns affected the structure of certain letter forms, notably e and t, and
culminated in the appearance of the ‘attacking strokes’ which are so characteristic of
the sixteenth-century hands.3

‘bastard secretary ’

As with Anglicana in the fourteenth century, so with Secretary in the fifteenth, scribes
developed a ‘Bastard’ variety of the script for use in formal contexts. The earliest
attempts to produce a formal hand were influenced by Bastard Anglicana (Plate 14 (i)),
but as the century advanced this ingredient was dropped from the mixture. The scribes
then constructed large, well-spaced, calligraphic hands containing the typical ‘Bastard’
combination: cursive forms and features (this time derived from Secretary) with the
proportions and stylistic features of Textura superimposed upon them (Plate 14 (ii)).
The hands often appear stiff, since the details of the two scripts are not fully assimilated.
During the second half of the century the attempts of English scribes to evolve a
Bastard variety of the script were overtaken by parallel developments which had been
taking place on the Continent. These developments were based on that species of
Textura which seems to be peculiar to French vernacular manuscripts, and culminated
in the ‘Lettre Bastarde’ found in manuscripts produced at the court of Burgundy.4
1 T h e new script does not predominate among Trin ity Coll. 49, and Arch. Seld. B. 24 (Plate 13
the entries of the ‘ Common Paper’ (The Ordinance, (ii)) (Chaucer); Ashmole 35 (Gower); Bodley 263,
court minute, and admissions book) of the Scrive­ Douce 148, Rawl. C. 48, and Rawl. Poet. 144
ners’ Company of London (now London, G u ild ­ (fols. 332-end) (Lydgate).
hall M S . 5370) until after 1440 (see L C H .). O f 2 See Receuil de facsimiles a Vusage de VEcole des
thirty-nine fifteenth-century manuscripts in the CharteSy nos. 77, 80, 90, 92, 99, 1 1 1 ; E. Poulle,
Bodleian Library containing works by Chaucer, Paleographie des ecritures cursives en France du
Lydgate, and Gower, sixteen were written in the xve au xviie siecle (Geneva, 1966), pis. i-iv.
Secretary Script. From palaeographical criteria 3 For example, the initial strokes of the letters
described in this book, eleven of these sixteen a and t (see C. B. Judge, Specimens of Sixteenth
manuscripts may be assigned to the second half of Century English Handwriting (Harvard, 1935), pi.
the fifteenth century: M S S . Bodley 414, Laud vi), and the second stroke of e (ibid., pi. xv).
M isc. 600, Rawl. Poet. 163, Rawl. Poet. 223, 4 For example, Cat. Royal M S S . ypis. 86,87,106.

XXI
During the second half of the fifteenth century the influence of these developments
may be seen in English manuscripts (Plate 15 (i)), and by the first quarter of the sixteenth
century English scribes had adopted the new French models (Plate 15 (ii)). The most
obvious structural feature of these late hands is the replacement of the broken strokes in
the lobes of the letters a, d, g, and the stems of c and e by a calligraphically formed
curve. In this form the Bastard variety was used in sixteenth-century manuscripts
(Plate 20 (ii)) and appears as one of the models in Baildon and Beauchesne’s A Booke
Containing Divers Sortes of Hands, published in 1571.1

ANGLICANA IN THE LATE FOURT E ENT H AND

THE FI FTEENTH CENTURI ES

The primary importance of Secretary between 1375 and 1450 is that it was the means
by which developments in the calligraphy of cursive handwriting which had taken place
in France during the fourteenth century were transmitted to the established cursive script
of this country. The impact of the new style of calligraphy had a profound effect upon
the development of Anglicana, and led to the modification of the letter forms of the script.
The first indication of the new style in manuscripts written in ordinary Anglicana
is the exaggeration of the taper of the descenders, but scribes soon adopted the
fashion of using broken strokes wherever it was possible to use them. Once the scribes
had adopted the details of the new style, the developments in this variety seem for
a time to reflect those in Secretary. As in the contemporary Secretary hands scribes
emphasized the various stylistic features in turn. In manuscripts produced about 1400
and in the early years of the fifteenth century there is the same emphasis upon broken
strokes and horns (Plate 2 (ii)). The mid-fifteenth-century hands are compact, contain
simplified forms (Plate 3 (i)), and in some cases show traces of splay.
The adoption of broken strokes and horns made some of the letter forms of the script
extremely difficult to write, consequently scribes devised simpler ways of forming the
most complex graphs of the script. They introduced a variant of the two-compartment
a, based upon the Textura form. The scribe first made a single lobe, and then divided
it into the two compartments by means of a short horizontal stroke (Plate 3 (i)). There
is also a version based upon the ‘capital’ form. This is composed of a single stroke: a
short loop followed by a larger loop in the reverse direction (Plate 3 (ii)). Both variants
reduce the number of strokes and movements required to produce this complex graph.
In the case of two-compartment g, the direction of the tail stroke was reversed to enable
the scribe to approach the following letter without raising the pen (Plate 3 (ii)). A l­
though the incidence of simplified forms increases as the fifteenth century progressed,
their presence provides an unreliable criterion for dating, since most of them appear
early in highly current hands.2
During the second half of the fifteenth century the principal variations which took
place in the standard variety lie not so much in the morphology as in the proportions
and execution of the handwriting. As scribes used Secretary more often, their habitua­
tion to the duct, letter forms, and style of calligraphy of the new script seems somehow
1 S T C . y 6446. hand in one of the K in g ’s Bench Rolls for 1386-7
2 For example, I have found the ‘ capital’ a form (P.R.O., K B 27/502).
and g with reversed tail stroke in a highly current

XXII
to have made the writing of good Anglicana more difficult. The less complicated
Secretary forms of a, g, and w appear frequently in place of the regular Anglicana
forms. The size and proportions of each individual letter seem to vary, even within
a single word (Plates 3 (ii), 21 (iii)). The vertical ascenders and descenders frequently
go out of the vertical, and the resulting ‘splay’, when compared with that of a Secretary
hand, is obviously accidental. With increasing frequency the scribes abandoned any
pretence at calligraphy, and the handwriting sprawls across the page (Plate 21 (iii)).

A N G L I C A N A F O R M A T A AND BASTARD A N G L I C A N A

Books written in Anglicana Formata and Bastard Anglicana show the details of the
new style of calligraphy earlier than those written in the less formal variety, because
they were usually written more meticulously (Plates 2 (i), 5 (i)). During the last quarter
of the fourteenth century scribes began to form the lobes of the letters d and q by
means of broken strokes, and the practice was soon extended to the formation of other
letters: in particular to a, c, g, o, and even to the loops of ascenders (Plates 5 (i) and (ii)).
The short r derived from the earlier book hands was remodelled by analogy with the
Secretary form (Plate 6 (i)).
About 1400 the writing of Anglicana Formata reached a climax in the large well­
spaced calligraphic hands used for the massive volumes containing vernacular texts.1
The size of the hands enabled scribes to contain successfully those details of the new
style of calligraphy which were most suited to this variety of the script. In some cases
the hands are so well written that it is difficult to distinguish them from those of
Bastard Anglicana. Scribes continued to use this large calligraphic version of Anglicana
Formata for de luxe copies of vernacular texts until the mid fifteenth century,2 when
they began to replace it by Bastard Secretary. In the smaller vernacular manuscripts
some scribes achieved a successful amalgam of Anglicana Formata and Secretary, which
is almost a separate style (Plate 19 (ii)). It contains a high proportion of Secretary forms,
and could be, and was written currently. The majority of manuscripts written in
Anglicana Formata reveal the progressive assimilation of details from Secretary (Plate
6 (i)), and in the second half of the fifteenth century this is accompanied by a tendency
to exaggerate those features of style proper to Anglicana Formata itself, such as the feet
of the minims (Plate 6 (ii)). In the universities Anglicana Formata was replaced in the
fifteenth century by a new kind of handwriting which it will be necessary to discuss
separately later.
Bastard Anglicana was also modified under the impact of the new style of calligraphy
(Plate 7 (ii)), and during the fifteenth century by the influence of Bastard Secretary
(Plate 8 (i)); but since the Bastard hands were in origin a mixture, they were particularly
prone to idiosyncratic variation as scribes added to the mixture or varied the propor­
tions of the ingredients.3 Although towards the end of the fifteenth century the writing
of Bastard Secretary was disciplined by the influence of new models imported from
the Continent, these models made the writing of Bastard Anglicana more difficult. As
1 Forexam pless ee The Ellesmere Chaucer Repro- works by Lydgate: Bodl. M S S . D igb y 230, 232,
duced in Facsimile (Manchester, 1910); Pal. Soc. i, and Rawl. C. 466.
pi. 101; and W . W . Skeat, Twelve Facsimiles of Old 3 Further examples of idiosyncratic hands may
English M S S . (Oxford, 1892), pi. ix. be seen in Wright, E V H ., pi. 18; N . Pal. Soc. i,
2 For example, in the following manuscripts of pi. 220.

xxm
a result it did not survive as a distinct form of writing. Its features were incorporated
into the idiosyncratic attempts on the part of individual scribes to produce a calli­
graphic substitute for Textura (Plate 8 (ii)), and which are perhaps best described as
‘Fere-textura’.

THE H A N D W R I T I N G OF U N I V E R S I T Y SCRIBES IN
THE F I FT EE N TH CENT URY

In the universities, and particularly at Oxford, the scribes achieved a blend of Anglicana
and Secretary which resulted in what was virtually a new kind of book hand. It replaced
Anglicana Formata as the principal academic book hand in the fifteenth century, and
remained in use until it was replaced in turn by the advent of the printed text.1 The
hands are small, highly current, and compact. Although highly current, this is a much
more conscious style of writing than at first meets the eye. The fluency is carefully
controlled, and the letter forms are consciously simplified and compressed. Although
this highly distinctive style of handwriting owed much to the influence of Secretary,
this influence is not immediately recognizable in the early-fifteenth-century hands
(Plate 17 (i)). We can only see how much they owe to Secretary by analysing them closely,
or by comparing them with French hands of a similar kind.2 However, in hands written
about the middle of the century the influence of the duct of the new script becomes more
recognizable. The characteristic splay, accompanied by distinctive Secretary graphs,
appears more frequently (Plate 17 (ii)), and in the 1460s and 70s the hands tend to re­
semble the contemporary Secretary hands more closely as other features of the new
style of calligraphy emerge (Plate 18 (i)). In manuscripts produced in the last quarter
of the century scribes tend to develop more personal styles. The hands are more current,
and some scribes even adopted humanist forms (Plate 18 (ii)).

THE H A N D W R I T I N G OF I N D I V I D U A L SCRIBES

Many fifteenth-century scribes were able to write well in more than one script (Plate
22), and manuscripts in which the scribe has used one script for the text and another
for headings or commentaries are common (Plates 19 (ii), 20 (i)). However, the exist­
ence side by side of two different cursive scripts which nevertheless possessed parity of
status in the hierarchy of scripts, and which shared many features of the new style of
calligraphy, created a state of confusion among the scribes. As soon as there are two
ways of writing the same thing, a mixture of the two is inevitable (Plate 24 (i)). The
existence of separate varieties of the two scripts provided further ingredients for the
mixture. In such circumstances it is easy to understand why the handwriting of foreign
scribes, accustomed as they were to only one cursive script, is frequently superior
to that of their English colleagues (Plate 24 (ii)).3 By far the greater number of
1 T h e type faces of early printed books were not foreign scribes worked in England for English
based on this kind of handwriting, but either on patrons. For accounts of some of them see R. A . B.
Textura, or on more formal cursive models such as Mynors, Catalogue of the M S S . of Balliol Col -
the more idiosyncratic Bastard Secretary hands lege, Oxford (Oxford, 1963), pp. xxvi-xxviii, xlii,
(cf. Bodl. M S . Laud M isc. 616 with E. G . Duff, xlviii-xlix; the same writer’s ‘A Fifteenth-Century
Early English Printing (London, 1896), no. x). Scribe: T . Werken’, Transactions of the Cambridge
2 e.g. Mss. dates, vol. i, pis. lvi (ii), lix, lxi, Bibliographical Society , i (1950), p. 97; and M . B.
lxxi (ii). Parkes, ‘A Fifteenth-Century S cribe: Henry M ere’,
3 During the fifteenth century a number of Bodleian Library Record, vi (1961), p. 654.

XXIV
manuscripts produced in England during the fifteenth century were written in hands
which contain forms and features drawn from more than one script. Not all these mixed
hands were produced by accident. Many scribes, particularly in the second half of
the century, carefully selected features from various scripts and incorporated them into
their handwriting (Plates 8 (ii), 14 (i)). The majority of mixed hands are difficult to
date unless one is able to relate sufficient details of the separate ingredients to dated or
datable examples of the scripts from which they were drawn (cf. Plate 24 (i)).
The impact of the new developments in the calligraphy of cursive handwriting had a
profound effect upon the standard of handwriting in this country. Whereas the develop­
ments which had taken place in English handwriting at the beginning of the fourteenth
century were of a practical nature, those which were introduced at the end of the cen­
tury were not. The elaborate treatment of the strokes, and of subsidiary features, made
the letter forms of both cursive scripts exceedingly complex, and it required a highly
skilled and punctilious scribe to reproduce them well. As a result, in manuscripts pro­
duced after about 1380, one finds a few well-defined specimens of the several varieties
of the two scripts executed by skilled scribes, and many inferior specimens produced
by the less expert or the less patient. Many skilled scribes developed more practical
hands alongside their formal models, yet based upon them: modifications designed
to restore the primary requirements of simplicity and ease of manoeuvre. One finds
examples of scribes who wrote meticulously on the first few pages, then slid gradually
into a more comfortable style of writing even changing from one script to another in the
process (Plate 21). Scribal practice became progressively idiosyncratic until with the
rapid development of printing handwriting ceased to be the normal means of pro­
ducing books. In the sixteenth century Secretary became the principal script in use in
this country (Plate 20 (ii)). Anglicana survived only in certain government offices and
the law.1
1 Hence the tendency from the sixteenth century p. xvi) or ‘Chancelry’ (as in Baildon and de Beau-
onwards to refer to it as ‘ Court H and’ (see above, chesne, op. cit.).

XXV
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