Click on the button beside each word to indicate its abbreviation in the text.
These are only a sample. To find all the abbreviations, work through the text pages with the transcript window open. There are some inconsistencies in the form of abbreviations. For example, the forms of slash through p which indicate the prefixes per- and pro- swap over at times. In one place is used for quia, while in another should represent quia, but it looks like qm to me. This may be inconsistency or scribal error, but then, why should one expect a manuscript to be perfect?
English Bestiary, 13th century (British Library, Harley 3244, f.39). All images by permission of the British Library.

| overview | image | text | alphabet | abbreviations | exercises | transcript | translation |

Click on each of the above to walk your way through the text. The transcript will appear in a separate window so that you can use it for reference at any time. These exercises are designed to guide you through the text, not test you, so you can cheat as much as you like
Medieval Writing
Script sample for this example
Index of Exercises
Index of Scripts

If you are looking at this page without frames, there is more information about medieval writing to be found by going to the home page (framed) or the site map (no frames).
This site is created and maintained by Dr Dianne Tillotson, freelance researcher and compulsive multimedia and web author. Comments are welcome Material on this web site is copyright, but some parts more so than others. Please check here for copyright status and usage before you start making free with it. This page last modified 5/5/2005.