Advanced Search   *   Manuscripts   *   Scribes   *   Authors   *   Letters
Home   *   About the Project   *   Bibliography
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Find What? Search by
Scribal Profile
Hand B
Profiles for this Scribe:
 
Current Manuscript:London, British Library MS Royal 17.C.XIV
Identification:Main hand
Folios:May-90
Sampled Folios:47r
Example Page:Display a full page showing this scribe's hand
Image Rights:Reproduced with permission of The British Library. All images on this website are reproduced with permission of the Libraries, Archives, and Owners of the manuscripts. Manuscript images that appear on this website remain in the copyright of the libraries where the manuscripts are held. Use of these images for any purpose other than private study without written permission of those libraries is prohibited by law.
 
A
Usage: and
double compartment 'a' is used throughout.
Usage: hath
Usage: And
sometimes the head of upper case 'A' forms a complete loop.
Usage: And
sometimes the head is left open. The lower lobe has a pointed extension at the left side.
 
D
Usage: doutles
'd' is usually looped and rounded in aspect.
Usage: dresse
occasionally the lower lobe is pointed at the left side.
Usage: god
'd' in final position sometimes has a short extension.
Usage: answerid
the upper loop is sometimes elongated.
 
G
Usage: god
the scribe uses various forms of double compartment 'g'. Here the lower lobe is larger than the upper lobe and has a flattened appearance.
Usage: god
a spikier version of 'g' with squarish upper lobe.
Usage: ga(n)
sometimes the flattened lower lobe is left unresloved.
Usage: Gyn seyd
upper case 'G'.
 
H
Usage: hath
'h' is presented with wide loop at the head and a limb which is straight, as here, or at a slight angle as in the following examples.
Usage: which
'c' usually has a small extension above the head stroke of the graph which continues horizontally to form a ligature with 'h'.
Usage: myght
a messy combination as all three letters are joined.
Usage: Hys
the upper case letter is exactly the same as the lower case one.
 
R
Usage: ritht
long 'r' is used in all positions throughout.
Usage: throwe
long 'r' joins a round-bodied graph at the lower end of the 'o' so the fork of 'r' is level with the bottom of the following letter.
Usage: her
'r' in final position has a flick upwards.
Usage: matyr
one of the few 'z'-shaped 'r's on this folio. It is also used after 'o'.
 
S
Usage: ayens
sigma 's' is always used in final position. It is also used very occasionally in initial position.
Usage: shul
long 's' is used in initial and medial positions. The shaft is thick and often blunt-ended. However, some long 's's do taper to a finer stroke.
Usage: gentilnesse
Usage: yatis
when 's' comes at the end of a line the scribe takes licence and extends the head way out into the right margin.
 
W
Usage: was
the scribe's 'w's are consistently formed in two variations. Here the left arm links to the middle stroke at the lower end of the graph. The 'B' -shaped element to the right of the graph is always present.
Usage: answere
no approach stroke to the left arm of the graph because the 'w' occurs in the middle of a word.
Usage: we
in this example, the left arm links with the centre stroke at the top of the graph. There is a gap between the two at the bottom.
Usage: Whan
an upper case example with completely separate left limb.
 
Y
Usage: hym
this scribe's 'y' is a very important letter in his repertoire since it helps to define the aspect of the folio. The horizontal impetus of the extended tail of 'y' (as well as other letters such as the extension on final 's'), may be an important identifier of the scribal hand.
Usage: yis
here the tail of 'y' extends beneath the following two graphs.
Usage: wey hath
in this example, the tail of 'y' extends beneath three letters of the following word.
Usage: matyr and
again the exaggerated extension of the tail takes in the space between words and continues below the first two letters of 'and'.
 
Upper Case Letters
Usage: Makyng
Usage: To
Usage: Be
Usage: Re pele
 
Tags and Macrons
Usage: Makyng
final 'g' is sometimes tagged.
Usage: what
final 't' is sometimes tagged.
Usage: a noon
difficult to see what this extended macron is for.
Usage: ben
the horizontal line extends half way to the edge of the folio.
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP