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evidence of decadence. Indeed the round hand was being rapidly displaced by the more convenient pointed hand, which was in full use in England in the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the 8th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century. How See also:

LATE

late, however, the more calligraphic round hand could be continued under favouring circumstances is seen in the See also:

LIBER

Liber Vitae or See also:

list of benefactors of Durham (See also:

Cat. Anc. MSS. pt. ii., pl. 25; Pal. Soc. pl.

238), the writing of which would, from its beautiful See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution, be taken for that of the 8th century, did not See also:

INTERNAL

internal evidence prove it to be of about the See also:

YEAR

year 840. The pointed hand ran its course through the 8th, 9th, and loth centuries, until See also:

ENGLISH

English writing came under the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of the See also:

FOREIGN

foreign minuscule. The leading characteristics of this hand in the 8th century are regularity and breadth in the formation of the letters and a calligraphic contrast of heavy and See also:

LIGHT

light strokes —the hand being then at its best. In the 9th century there is greater lateral See also:

COMPRESSION

compression, although regularity and correct formation are maintained. But in the loth century there are signs of decadence. New forms are introduced, and there is a disposition to be imitative. A test See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter of this latter century is found in the letter a with obliquely cut See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top, a. The course of the progressive changes in the pointed hand may be followed in the Facsimiles of See also:

Ancient Charters in the See also:

BRITISH

British Museum and in the Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon MSS. of the Rolls See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

Series. The charters reproduced in these See also:

WORKS

works have survived in sufficient See also:

numbers to enable us not only to form a fairly accurate knowledge of the criteria of their See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age, but also to recognize See also:

LOCAL

local peculiarities of writing. The Mercian See also:

SCRIBES

scribes appear to have been very excellent penmen, writing a very graceful hand with much delicate See also:

PLAY

play in the strokes. On the other hanc' the writing of Wessex was heavier and more straggling and is in such strong contrast to the Mercian hand that its examples may be easily detected with a little practice. Turning to books in which the pointed hand was employed, a very beautiful specimen, of the 8th century, is a copy of See also:

Bede's Ecclesiastical[See also:

NATIONAL

NATIONAL HANDS See also:

HISTORY

History (fig.

42) in the University Library at See also:

Cambridge (Pal. Soc. pls. 139, 140), which has in a marked degree that breadth of style which has been referred to. Not much later is another copy of the same See also:

WORK

work in the Cottonian Library (Pal. Soc. pl. 141; Cat. Anc. MSS. pt. ii., pl. 19), from which the following facsimile is taken. 9icurSut tPotu 9me j trot olbtLutiatD•lutrnuLv-' 1r himot i, io 9-3 ar nlwwr (tus sui tempora gerebat. Uir uenerabilis oidiluuald, qui multis annis in monasterio quod dicitur Inhry—) For an example of the beginning of the 9th century, a MS. of miscellanea, of A.D. 811-814, also in the Cottonian Library, may be referred to (Pal.

Soc. pl. 165; Cat. Anc. MSS. pt. ii. See also:

PLATE

Plate 24); and a very interesting MS. written in the Wessex style is the See also:

Digby MS. 63 of the middle of the century (Pal. Soc. pl. 168). As seen in the charters, the pointed writing of the loth century assumes generally a larger See also:

SIZE

size, and is rather more artificial and calligraphic. A very beautiful example of the book-hand of this See also:

period is found in the See also:

VOLUME

volume known as the Durham See also:

RITUAL (from Lat. ritus, a custom, especially a religious rite or custom)

Ritual (Pal. Soc. pl. 240), which, owing to the care bestowed on the writing and the archaism of the style, might at first sight pass for a MS. of higher antiquity.

In the latter See also:

PART

part of the loth century the foreign set minuscule hand began to make its way into England, consequent on increased intercourse with the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

Continent and See also:

POLITICAL

political changes which followed. In the charters we find the foreign and native hands on the same See also:

page: the See also:

BODY

body of the document, in Latin, in Carolingian See also:

MINUSCULES

minuscules; the boundaries of the See also:

LAND

land conveyed, in the English hand. The same practice was followed in books. The See also:

CHARTER (Lat. charta, carta, from Gr. Xap-rns, originally for papyrus, material for writing, thence transferred to paper and from this material to the document, in O. Eng. boc, book)

charter (in book form) of See also:

King Eadgar to New See also:

Minster, See also:

Winchester, A.D. 966 (Pal. Soc. pls. 46, 47), the Benedictional of See also:

Bishop iEthelwold of Winchester (pls. 142, 144) before A.D. 984, and the MS. of the See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

Office of the See also:

CROSS

Cross, A.D. 1012—IO20 (pl. 6o), also written in Winchester, are all examples of the use of the foreign minuscule for Latin. The See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change also which the national hand underwent at this period may certainly be attributed to this foreign influence.

The pointed hand, strictly so-called, is replaced by a rounder or rather square See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, with lengthened strokes above and below the See also:

LINE

line. tumuli, ',errhtr > n,. See also:

PEAR (Pyrus communis)

pear, Vllfb ovFtc be : .:. See also:

RC(:N•OH)R'-RC(OH)

Rc e:1( See also:

anu FOILUC . all Pre pu ' 111 fiO1'au XWCfl (manan he wns his mega. sceard freonda ge fylled on folcstede besingen yet s9cge. and his sunu forint. on wnlstowe wundum'forgrunden.) This style of writing becomes the ordinary English hand down to the See also:

time of the See also:

Norman See also:

CONQUEST

Conquest. That event extinguished the national hand for See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official purposes—it disappears from charters; and the already established use of the Carolingian minuscule in Latin MSS. completed its exclusion as the hand-writing of the learned. It cannot, however, be doubted that it still lingered in those parts of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country where foreign influence did not at once penetrate, and that Englishmen still continued to write their own See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language in their own style of writing. But that the earlier distinctive national hand was soon overpowered by foreign teaching is evident in English MSS. of the 12th century, the writing of which is of the foreign type, although the English letter See also:

thorn, p, survived and continued in use down to the 15th century, when it was transformed to y.

End of Article: MISS

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