The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering by Frederic W. Goudy
Chapter 5: Letters Before Printing, page 3
When bookmaking became more general and the need grew for a greater number of books,
the scribes found it necessary to increase
FIG. 18 ROMAN UNCIALS OFTHE SEVENTH CENTURY, WITH RUSTIC INITIAL. FROM THE SPECULUM OF ST. AUGUSTINE
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their product. Neither the uncial previously in use nor the cursive script enabled
them to meet the new conditions. The uncial writing, beautiful as it was, was too slow,*
and the cursive too ordinary for good book work; therefore a compromise hand developed
which was more readily written than the capital book hand & more legible than the
ordinary hand of business. This new hand was written in small characters which came
to be called "minuscules." When completely developed, it superseded all other
writing for books, except for Bible manuscripts or lives of the saints, which
were still issued in the older uncial character. At first, little distinction
was made between the minuscule forms and the capitals from which they developed,
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* Sometimes indicated by the appearance of impatience at ends of
lines, where the scribe allowed his writing to take
on a more cursive character.
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but from the more rapid writing of capitals certain modifications took place,
finally evolving an entirely new character, which reached its relative perfection in
the tenth and eleventh centuries, & then degenerated with use, as do all scripts.
Figure 19 shows an enlargement of some of the Roman semiuncials, of historical interest rather than of any artistic value.
FIG.19 ROMAN SEMIUNCIALS
FIG.20 IRISH SEMIUNCIALS
FIG. 21 ENGLISH SEMIUNCIALS
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Cursive or running characters gave rise to a variety of handwritings, of
which the Irish "semiuncial" is the most important. No Irish hand is known on
which it could have been formed, yet in the sixth century Ireland was the
chief school of Western calligraphy, & in the seventh the Irish writing had
attained an excellence so great that it has since been unrivaled. It is said
that Ireland borrowed the forms for her handwriting from the manuscripts
which the Roman missionaries brought there in the fifth century.
These manuscripts were usually written in a half-uncial character, that is,
a mixture of uncials and minuscules or smaller letters. The illustration [fig. 20]
shows typical letters of the Irish semiuncial writing and is from the Book of Kells,
a volume written about the end of the seventh century, decorated with wonderful initials.
Continue to page 4
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The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering
by Frederic W. Goudy
Introduction
What Letters Are
Letters in General
The Development of the Roman Capital
Letters Before Printing
The National Hands
The Development of Gothic
The Beginnings of Types
The Qualities of Lettering
Some Practical Considerations
Notes on the Plates
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