Hand: Continuous Glossator, BL Cotton Julius A.vi

Name

Continuous Glossator

Manuscript

BL Cotton Julius A.vi

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Ker, Scribe K. saec. xi med.

Date

Saec. xi1 or xi med.

Place

CaCC

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

The scribe used a relatively wide pen for a gloss, and held the pen relatively flat. The aspect is rounded and fairly neat, shows a level cue-height, and looks much like script of the mid-eleventh century. Ascenders are straight, quite thick, longer than minims, and show regular wedges. Descenders are also thick and straight and usually have angled finials except for long s which tapers and turns slightly left. A slightly rounded teardrop-shaped a was used throughout. The a-component of æ is more rotund, and has a small lower curve on the e-component, a long and slightly rising tongue, and a rounded hook. The tongue of æ is sometimes horizontal and at cue-height, in which case the hook is rounded and rises to about half-ascender height, and this form was used even when not in ligature (æþelan, 38r5). Round c was used, and the back of d is short but straight and angled at about 45°. Horned e is found with a straight back, a horizontal or slightly rising tongue, a round and relatively wide hook, and a lower curve which can be short or which can reach up beyond the hook to touch the tongue. The tongue and hook of f are both short and the same length. The top of g is horizontal and long, the mid-section hangs from the left and is quite open, and the tail is closed in a round loop. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all of average roundness. Majuscule n is found at line-end on 38r5, perhaps influenced by the same form in the Latin on the previous line (n ouimus). A hybrid Insular-Caroline r is found on 38r1 with a Caroline hook but a full-length descender. Long s is found before t and initially, and low s in any position including before t. Long s does not usually reach down a full descender-length and sometimes barely extends past the base-line. The conventional distinction was followed between ð and þ. The back of ð is long and straight but sometimes turns up slightly at the tip, is angled at about 60°, and has a through-stroke which is hooked down on the right and tapering on the left. Straight-limbed dotted y is found throughout, the right branch of which is hooked left, and the tail hooked back up to the right. The top of 7 is long, slightly rising, and hooked up on the left, and the down-stroke is vertical but curves left. The Latin script is Style-IV Anglo-Caroline.