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| The History of h |
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The letter h is really one of the boring ones, with very little real variation over time, apart from varying treatments of the ascender which can be straight, curved or looped, not to mention short or tall. Basically, h is a letter that will not let you go wrong, whatever script you are looking at.
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In the Old Roman square capitals, H has the familiar squared form. |
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In the rustic capital script, the crossbar extends beyond the vertical with a slightly more informal look. |
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The uncial H prefigures the minuscule form of the letter in later scripts. |
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In this example of New Roman cursive, the minuscule h is recognisable, although the vertical element is extended below the baseline. |
| In the pre-Carolingian minuscule scripts or National Hands, the variants on h are minimal, relating to the proportions of the letter and slight variations on the treatment of the ascender. |
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In a 6th century half uncial script h is simple and vertical. |
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In the specialised book script Corbie ab it has no eccentric features. |
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An old northern Italian book hand of the 8th century displays the same basic form. |
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This example of Merovingian
minuscule or Germanic
book hand has a slightly angular h. |
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The Visigothic script has added a wedged top to the ascender of h. |
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The formal script known as known as insular half uncial also has a wedged top for h, but in this case the ascender is very short. |
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This 10th century example of insular minuscule displays the wedged top, but the ascender is longer. |
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In this example from a developed form of Beneventan minuscule the letter h has little angular feet. |
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In Merovingian chancery script the letter h contains the same elements as in other scripts, but as with other letters in this script, the body of the letter is tiny while the ascender is very tall, and in this case bowed. |
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Even in the old curialis of the papal chancery, h has a familar shape, although very tall and thin. |
| The Carolingian scripts did not really have too much to do in order to produce a standard h. |
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This version of Caroline minuscule h has a small foot on the vertical. |
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A sample from a forged 12th century monastic charter has a wedged top to the ascender, as was common in English scripts of this type. |
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The later papal curialis of the 11th century has retained the elongated shape of the letter. |
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By the 12th century the diplomatic minuscule of the papal chancery has not altered much. This example has a slightly wedged top to the ascender. |
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For once, the 12th century diplomatic minuscule of the Imperial German chancery did not add bizarre elaborations to the letter h, which is simply very tall and narrow. |
| In the formal Gothic book hands, the letter h becomes more angular, and often develops a fine angular downward extension to the end of the loop. |
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This protogothic h from a 12th century French book hand simply looks like a slightly angular Caroline minuscule letter. |
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The 14th century Gothic rotunda version of the letter retains the rounded shape. |
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This 13th century Gothic textura h of medium grade has the fine angular lower extension. |
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The very formal Gothic prescissa, displays its usual neat angular style, but in this example the lower extension of h is elaborated into a tiny spiral. Very fastidious and finicky. |
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A relatively informally written late 15th or early 16th Gothic textura script shows a simplified and rapidly written form of h. |
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A 15th century Dutch language formal Gothic textura h has an angular foot with a hairline extension at the base of the vertical, and a long extension to the end of the letter. |
| In document hands and later cursive scripts, it usually does not get any more complicated. |
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 Histories of Individual Letters |
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History of Scripts |
| What is Paleography? |
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