Analysis of Letters.—The subjoined table of lower case alphabets (fig. I) is meant to illustrate, by reference to the numerals at the top, the forms of letters mentioned in the remarks which follow. Forms in brackets do not belong to our period, but are alluded to historically. The alphabets are far from ex haustive as a list of forms admissible or usual in 75th-78th cen tury hands, and the facsimiles should be studied to supplement them and illustrate the mode of use of the letters. In what fol lows Secretary and Italian hands will be referred to as Sec. and It.
a. The normal form in both Sec. and It. is Formed in one stroke, its greater rapidity caused it to displace the Carolingian (or printer's) a though the latter with its variant survived in some legal as well as book hands ; may be regarded either as a simplification of by neglect of the top hook, or as a revival of the precaroline (the earlier type of which was a'), which had never been completely driven out by are character istic 16th-17th century forms developed from an overhead fore link, but often used initially and where no link was needed ; indeed, has ceased to function as a link altogether and become a senseless flourish like the long up-stroke often prefixed to initial nt; a not very common form, has received a good deal of atten tion from its occurrence in one of the Shakespeare signatures.
b. b' is the normal It., with and as variations, the usual Sec. form, developing at an early date into the modern c. made in one stroke, had replaced in Sec. the mediaeval 0, in which the downward curve was written first and the horizontal top added afterwards. It thus avoided the disastrous similarity of and t', which makes the two letters as often as not tinguishable in mediaeval documents. But it became too like an ill-formed e or It. did good service in restoring the simple curve the ultimate victory of which was assured.
d. Of the two forms d' and about equally frequent in 12th century use, had gradually driven out d' in 75th century England, and, with the addition of a loop for after-link, estab lished itself in Sec. It. partially reintroduced d', and the two forms have been alternatives ever since. In the 76th century the ambiguity of with the of Sec. more than counterbalanced the ambiguity of with c/. is an abnormal, but not rare, form of
fore-linked and written the wrong way round.
e, the letter of most frequent occurrence, whether in Latin or the vernacular, has perhaps undergone more changes than any other. The early mediaeval is formed in three pieces, beginning with the downward curve ; is a modification written in two motions. The gradual development of the characteristic Sec. form through the stages and e' was the work of the 74th century. Its ambiguity with was perhaps the cause of a marked tendency in the i6th century to lift the pen before forming the final loop (as in or to reduce the loop to its smallest size as in In well-formed It. it had practically the modern shape e", but English writers show a strong inclination to revert to other forms. (See, for example Plate Ib line e in the same plate. i, quietness, where the second e exactly resembles and d, where Elizabeth prefers the Sec. whereas Burleigh uses something resembling The eventual victory of e" was assured in the I7th century, though lingered on well into the 78th, and not only in legal hands. Final e, like final s, is always specially liable to slurring. The epsilon form occurs fairly often from Eliza bethan It. onwards, but is somewhat indicative of academic educa tion.
f in Sec. is analogous in formation to e, starting with the middle of the shaft downwards and completing the top in one or two motions, f' and f. The It. is a simple two-piece letter, but needs adaptation to make it current. If the fore-link was added on the r, and the after-link on the 1, as in r, it is too like It' and O. The difficulty is eventually solved by the form P.
g, rather a complicated letter throughout the middle ages, tend ing continually to diverge from, and return to the figure-of-8 form of the minuscule, never attained in Sec. a form of satis factory simplicity. In g' and g' after writing the y part of the letter the pen was carried far to the left below the line, and must be lifted to make the horizontal top-stroke. The It. links well but the bottom loop, made large and far to the right, was rather cumbrous. An alternative was liable to confusion with and other letters, and many 16th-17th century writers used the com plicated Eventually the modern begins to take shape about Charles L's reign.