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Scribal Profile
John Marchaunt or Scribe D
Profiles for this Scribe:
3. London, British Library MS Harley 7334
 
Current Manuscript:London, British Library MS Harley 7334
Folios:1r-286v
Sampled Folios:58v, 86v, 87r, 148v, 149r, 178v, 181v, 191r, 236v
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: Galile
Usage: And
Scribe D has a whole variety of different upper case 'A''s. This version tends to have a fairly squarish lobe with open curving stroke above and is probably the graph most frequently used by the scribe.
Usage: Answerd
the squarish lobe is again in evidence but the head-stroke is a closed loop.
Usage: Amen
on some folios, Scribe D may select only this form of 'A'. On other folios he may use several different versions.
 
D
Usage: weddid
this 'd' with open interior can be a significant feature of this hand. However, the scribe can produce folio after folio where version 2 is the only 'd' form. Thus open interior 'd' can only be significant where other features of the hand coincide.
Usage: god
Usage: Daun
a simple upper case 'D'.
Usage: dyademe
occasionally the scribe produces an upper lobe which extends rather more to the left than his usual more upright and contained letter.
 
G
Usage: goddes
a typical 'g' slightly tilted back.
Usage: þinges
another typical shape for 'g' with a more angular lower lobe and a slight overhang to the right of the lower lobe where the scribe removes his quill.
Usage: prolog
'g' as the final letter in the explicit to the prologue before the Squire's Tale. The small extension with looped end is typical.
Usage: God
 
H
Usage: honours
the tailstroke of 'h' is usually short and neatly contained.
Usage: wight
very occasionally, the tail of 'h' flicks back to the right.
Usage: He
where 'H' appears at the beginning of a line, there is frequently an extra curved stroke added in the margin next to the letter. The same sometimes also applies to 'L'.
Usage: Here
elaborate 'H' for the opening rubric for the Wife of Bath's Prologue.
 
R
Usage: our
on some folios long 'r' is used almost exclusively. On other folios it is difficult to find, with modern 'r' most in evidence. As with the scribe's 'd's the selection of type of graph may vary between folios.
Usage: hir
Scribe D can also use modern 'r' in preference to long 'r' for long stretches.
Usage: þerfor
'z'-shaped 'r' does not always sport the otiose tag descending from the bottom left side of the letter.
Usage: Rethor
 
S
Usage: was
on some folios, kidney 's' is used exclusively in final position.
Usage: housbondes
final 8-shaped 's' on same folio as version 1.
Usage: schall
long 's' always used in initial position and also medially.
Usage: Salamon
a simple upper case 'S'. There are more variations of 'S' shown in the Wild Letters.
 
W
Usage: wise
Scribe D's 'w' nearly always has a smooth left vertical and two lobes on the right.
Usage: world
Usage: What
'W' in an upper case position. The scribe uses all his variations of 'w' for the upper case letter. This is merely a further example of shape. A slight foot at the bottom of the left vertical is only an occasional variation seen in this hand.
Usage: was
 
Y
Usage: Octogomye
'y' is sometimes dotted or as here with a curled stroke above more usually used above 'i'.
Usage: vilonye
very occasionally the scribe extends the tail of 'y' back up through the body of the letter itself finishing with the curled stroke.
Usage: byforn
'y' with dot above rather than curled stroke.
Usage: certayn
'y' with nothing above.
 
Oddities
Usage: corage
very occasionally the scribe adds a tongue to final 'e'.
Usage: Julius
it is sometimes possible to find an 's' with tags at each end of the letter.
Usage: Or
parallel lines as decoration within an upper case letter is a noticeable feature of the scribe's hand in some tracts of text. For more examples see Wild Letter 3.
Usage: woundes
a further example of the scribe's idiosyncratic 'd'.
 
Thorn and yogh
Usage: wiþouten
Usage: þerfor
Usage: Ȝit
Usage: ȝouþe
frequently, though not always, as instanced in the previous example, yogh has a flick to the right at the base of the letter.
 
Upper case letters
Usage: Neiþer
in some tracts of text, the scribe draws shadows in pen within the letter. This is the classic shape of Scribe D's 'N'.
Usage: That
there can be no lines, a single line or as here a double line in a number of upper case letters. Sometimes the scribe uses this type of decoration for long stretches, sometimes he does not use them at all.
Usage: Cane
Usage: Soth
 
More upper case letters
Usage: I
the classic and almost invariable shape of 'I'. The head stroke varies and is sometimes a little shorter or straighter, but the scribe usually adds one dot on the shaft as seen here.
Usage: Now
other upper case letters also attract a dot at times. Here the scribe's 'N' has a dot in the middle. However, he occasionally adds one or two diagonal strokes across the width of the letter.
Usage: Bathe
from the running title in the scribe's hand. There is usually (but not always) a separation between the double compartment of 'B' and the 2-shaped element at the left of the letter.
Usage: Prentys
there is often a space between the vertical and the lobe of 'P'.
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, King's Manor, York YO1 7EP