Script Type : minuscule
Date : 12th to 15th centuries. This example is from the early 12th century.
Location : Italy, southern France and Spain, although this example was produced in the Holy Land.
Function : Book hand
This sample is from the Melissande Psalter (British Library, Egerton 1139, f.210), made between 1131 and 1143 in Jerusalem. By permission of the British Library. These images aremade available by the British Library under a Creative Commons licence.
This manuscript has been digitised in full by the British Library and can be found here.
Distinctive letters : The heading on the top line is in uncial script while the initial letters of each line are in rustic capitals. The main text is in the modified Gothic script known as rotunda, which never became as angular and compressed as that of northern Europe. In this early example there is very little difference in the letter forms from those of Caroline minuscule, except that some of the curves of letters like m, n, o, p and u have become slightly angular.
The letter d is upight, as in Caroline minuscule, rather than the backsloping Gothic form.
The letters u and v are identical.
The letter s is usually tall, while t is short.
There are no examples of h, j, k, w, y or z in this example.
There are many abbreviations in the text.
Pass the cursor slowly along the first few lines to decode them. To look at the example in more detail, proceed to the paleography exercises.
Script
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