Shortcuts to Letter Forms, Ligatures.
Letter Forms: Variant and New Letters
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The most striking new form is the 'back to front' e. | |
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This can be disconcerting when it is used after an n or m minim: the tendency is to count the upswing before the e as an extra minim. This word reads dome. | ||
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This scribe uses two forms of g, the Secretary form with the horns and the Gothic bookhand form, apparently randomly. |
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There are now three forms of s, two short and one long. The new version has a lower closed loop and a top open one. It looks like an open padlock. |
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And three forms of r. The down- and upstrokes of the second one are separated, making it look almost like a v. Version 3 has a longer descender, which will become pronounced in other versions of Secretary. The 2-shaped r following curved and bowed letters has however disappeared from this hand. |
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This scribe prefers the vernacular English letter þ, though on occasion he alternates it with th | ![]() |
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He only uses y once on this page, in the word matrimoyne, 'matrimony'. | ![]() |
Do not mix up:
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