Hand: Hand 1 (fols. 132–39), Brussels, BR 8558–8563 (2498), fols. 132–153
- Name
- Hand 1 (fols. 132–39)
- Manuscript
- Brussels, BR 8558–8563 (2498), fols. 132–153
- Script
- Unspecified
- Scribe
- Unspecified
- Date
- Saec. xi1
- Place
- Unknown
Stokes, English Vernacular Script, ca 990–ca 1035, Vol. 2 (PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2006)
The proportions of this hand are quite square but the bodies are rounded. A thick pen was used and was held quite flat. Ascenders are shorter than minims and have split tops or wedges. Descenders are usually even shorter and usually turn slightly left at the tips but can have short rising finials. Minims have approach-strokes and horizontal feet. The body of a is normally quite rounded and can be almost flat-topped or semi-Caroline; in all cases the back and top were formed with a single stroke. The same forms are found in æ, the hook of which is usually low and the tongue rising, but a wide tall hook is also found in ligature with preceding g or t. Round c was used, and the body of e is rounded but is usually horned except after c or in ligature with preceding g or t. The tongue of e is straight and either horizontal or somewhat rising. The back of d can be either bilinear or flat but vertical-tipped. The tongue of f is flat, long, and can extend to the left of the down-stroke, and the hook branches from well below cue-height. The top of g is long and flat, and the mid-section is somewhat narrow, hangs from the centre or slightly to the left, and curves smoothly into a rounded closed tail. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite rounded. Tall, long, and low s are all found with little clear distinction. Tall s has a foot on the base-line and is found earlier in the scribe’s stint but is replaced by long s with a descenders which turns to the left. The hook of low s branches from the base-line, and low s+s ligatures are also found as is one rather clumsy tall s+t ligature. The scribe preferred ð to þ, largely following the conventional distinction but also writing both þu and ðu, þon and ðon. The back of ð is long, tapering, fairly steep, and turned up or right at the tip, and the through-stroke is fairly flat and hooked down on the right. Straight dotted y was used, the right branch of which hooks left. The top of 7 is relatively long and slightly concave-up. Latin is distinguished by script.