Hand: Directions, Hand 1 (91r18–22), BAV Reg.lat.338, fols. 64–126

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

This note was written in an irregular and seemingly unpractised hand. The scribe used a fairly thin pen held relatively flat and with a little shading. Ascenders are short but show regular wedges. Descenders can be short but are often longer than ascenders and are straight. Minims show heavy wedges and have small ticked feet or no feet. A rounded body of a is found, the top formed by the same stroke as the back. A similar but narrower form was used in æ, the tongue of which is straight and rising and the hook rounded. Round c was used. The back of d is quite rounded and concave down; it once has a prominent hook (gedrif, 91r18). The back of e is usually straight and upright and the letter usually has a small hook, although the round form is sometimes found; in both cases the tongue is straight and rising and the hook rounded and never tall. The tongue of f is short and the hook branches somewhat below cue-height and rises straight and at about 45° before turning down at the tip. The top of g is flat and relatively short, the mid-section is quite angular, descending straight down and left, then turning sharply right at the base-line before curving into a rounded, open hook which is approximately horizontal at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, and n are quite rounded, but that of r is quite angular. Low s is normal, although round s is found in names; the hook of low s is like that of f, and round s is clumsily formed and rises slightly above cue-height. The conventional distinction was followed between þ and ð. The construction of ð is much like that of d, though with a slightly longer and slightly higher back; the through-stroke is straight, thin, and close to horizontal. No x is found. Straight-limbed dotted y was used with serifs on both branches and the tail. The top of 7 is short and horizontal but with a slight serif on the left, and the down-stroke is vertical. Punctuation is limited to punctus just below cue-height and the use of mixed majuscule and minuscule letter-forms in names (eugenius . stephanus . portarius . dyonisius . sambucius . cecilius . & cyriacus .) Abbreviations are limited to þæt, 7, and &.