Scribal Profile Delta | |
| Profiles for this Scribe: | 1. Cambridge, St John's College, MS H.1 (204) |
| Current Manuscript: | Cambridge, St John's College, MS H.1 (204) |
| Folios: | 1-280 |
| Sampled Folios: | 72v, 74v, 75r, 80v |
| Example Page: | Display a full page showing this scribe's hand |
| Image Rights: | Reproduced by kind permission of the Master and Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge. 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: was the Delta scribe always uses double compartment 'a' in these sampled folios. |  | Usage: Also |
 | Usage: Apotecarea upper case 'A' from the labels on the image of the Ark on this folio. Note the two pairs of parallel lines as decoration, a feature of some of Scribe D's manuscripts. Scribe D also uses this type of graph for 'A' occasionally. |  | Usage: Starcorarea the final 'a' in this word, also to be found on the Ark on f80v. In the scribe's display repertoire. |
| D | |||
 | Usage: douȝtres looped 'd' with pointed lower lobe which is very similar to the 'd' of Scribe D. However, Delta's text is not quite as uniform in its flow as that of Scribe D. Neither lower nor upper levels of the text line are evenly achieved. Since Delta, as with Scribe D, copies above the ruled line, the effect of the uneven flow is therefore more noticeable with Delta. |  | Usage: Chedde |
 | Usage: gir(er)d the only example of a tailed 'd' on the four sampled folios. This does not accord with the practice of Scribe D who often adds a tag to final 'd'. |  | Usage: Dorchestre similar in construction to Scribe D's upper case 'D'. Here again, Delta uses the double parallel line decoration. |
| G | |||
 | Usage: grete most of Delta's 'g' graphs appear to tilt backwards a little. |  | Usage: kyng the lower compartment of 'g' is rounder than the 'g' most often used by Scribe D. Long vertical tag extends from the horizontal slash. |
 | Usage: longages note the inconsistency of presentation here. The first 'g' slopes slightly forward, the second 'g' is tilted backwards. The level of the graphs is uneven at both top and bottom. |  | Usage: Germania upper case 'G' with horizontal head-stroke. Scribe D's 'G' has a head-stroke which angles down slightly and his graph for 'G' is more angular. |
| H | |||
 | Usage: herte like Scribe D, Delta tucks away the limb and tail-stroke of 'h'. When used in initial position, the graph tends to slope forward slightly. |  | Usage: bisshop 'h' frequently has a foot at the base of the stem. The tail-stroke may sit on the line or extend below. |
 | Usage: Hominum |  | Usage: highe there is so little variation in Delta's 'h' that it is difficult to find the oddities. The word here is the last word of text before the images of the Ark. It is at the beginning of a line so perhaps hence the tiny flourished curl at the end of the tail-stroke. |
| R | |||
 | Usage: fourty on the pages sampled, only modern 'r' and 'z'-shaped 'r' are used. Long 'r' may be there but I have not found an example. This is directly contrary to his practise in Additional 24194 where long 'r' is the favoured graph. |  | Usage: Dorchestre 'z'-shaped 'r' is only used after 'o'. However, there are many examples on these folios. The graph almost always has an otiose stroke which curves down from the bottom left of the graph. |
 | Usage: sterres an example of the irregular level maintained by the scribe in his work. He always copies above the line but the distance above varies. |  | Usage: Richard |
| S | |||
 | Usage: Noes 8-shaped 's' is always used in final position. |  | Usage: self sigma 's' is rarely used. Long 's' is ubiquitous in initial and medial positions. It is rare to find the sigma 's' shown here. |
 | Usage: Siria |  | Usage: Sem serpentine upper case 'S' with vertical parallel lines bisecting the graph. |
| W | |||
 | Usage: whanne the standard shape of the scribe's 'w'. The approach stroke to the left limb may vary in length. |  | Usage: owne image to show the relative size of the 'w' graph against surrounding letters. It almost always stands above the adjacent graphs. |
 | Usage: afterward the same as version 2. |  | Usage: Wales the scrib'e 'w's vary little whether upper or lower case. However, here there is an angled foot at the lower end of the left limb and this may be the scribe's distinction. |
| Y | |||
 | Usage: by length of tail on this graph is very variable. |  | Usage: tyme sometimes the tail of 'y' is very short and the whole graph sits on the line. |
 | Usage: contrayes | ||
| Thorn and Yogh | |||
 | Usage: lerneþ thorn used regularly for any 'th' replacement. |  | Usage: oþer |
 | Usage: ariȝt yogh used frequently for both 'y' and 'gh' elements. |  | Usage: ȝork |
| Upper Case Letters | |||
 | Usage: I in this manuscript, Delta's upper case 'I's are different from those of Scribe D and provide a swift starting point for the comparison of the two hands. Delta's 'I' resembles the figure '3' with curves at top and bottom on the left side. Delta's 'I' also has a protuberance on the left of the stem just is found in the 'I' of Scribe D. |  | Usage: Paulynus upper case 'P' graph which is very similar to that of Scribe D. D frequently uses dots in his upper case letters. Delta does not seem to employ this decoration very often, preferring the parallel line feature. |
 | Usage: Bote upper case 'B' is different from Scribe D's 'B' where the looped element at the left side of the graph is a separate entitity and a further vertical exists where Delta has scribed his parallel line feature. |  | Usage: Theodorus upper case 'T' is very similar in both scribal hands. |
| More Upper Case Letters | |||
 | Usage: Norþhumberlond Delta has exactly the same two variants of upper case 'N' as Scribe D. This version differs from Scribe D's 'N' only in having a slightly more completed loop before the addition of the angled foot. |  | Usage: Neu(er)þeles Scribe D also uses this version of 'N'. |
 | Usage: Ampersand; Delta's ampersands are distinctive and different from those of Scribe D. Delta also seems to use ampersand more frequently than D. |  | Usage: Ampersand; the long trailing stroke which appears to lead in to the symbol can vary in length. The main 'z' shape is crossed in Delta's version but not in Scribe D's version. Delta almost always has a curved stroke above. Scribe D sometimes uses a stroke above, sometimes not. |