Hand: Glossator 1 (fols. 4–11, 99, 100), Boulogne BM 189

Name

Glossator 1 (fols. 4–11, 99, 100)

Manuscript

Boulogne BM 189

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. xi1

Place

CaCC

Stokes, English Vernacular Script, ca 990–ca 1035, Vol. 2 (PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2006)

This small, angular script was written with a narrow pen but with some shading. Ascenders and descenders are long and straight, extending two to three times the length of minims; ascenders have small wedges, and descenders can be shorter. Minims are very small and angular, with approach-strokes and usually with small feet. An essentially Caroline a was used throughout, with a thick angled back and a small, angular head. A flat-topped form was used for æ; the lower stroke of the e-component is short, the tongue straight and rising, and the hook low but rounded. Round c was used, although with a fairly flat and angular hook, and d has a long back angled at about 45°. Round e was used throughout with the same structure as æ. Both the tongue and hook of f are short, angular, and slightly rising. The top of g is usually flat but can be rounded on the left; the mid-section is short, fairly straight, hangs from the centre, and then turns sharply right before turning back to the left in a somewhat angular open hook which is vertical-tipped. The lower branch of k curves down and then out to the right, and the upper branch curls up and back to the left The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all very angular, rising from below cue-height and descending vertically or slightly back to the left. Tall and round s are found, the former sitting on the base-line and with a small hook, and the upper hook of the latter is short and angular and the lower curve descends slightly below the base-line. The scribe used þ almost exclusively, the body of which is very angular and the descender often short. The back of ð is long, straight, and angled at about 60°, and the through-stroke is hooked down on the left. The lower left stroke of x extends well below the base-line and is hooked right, and the top left branch is hooked left. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the right branch hooked left at the top and the tail hooked right. The top of 7 is hooked up slightly at the left and rises slightly, and the descender is vertical.