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| The History of t (2) |
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| In the document hands and later cursive book hands, t tends to retain the short, wide form with a curling vertical. Even when the vertical extends above the crossbar, the letter remains short. By the 15th and 16th centuries, the more familar tall and narrow form of t appears. Because the crossbar of the short t tends to be assymetrical, it can sometimes be confused with c. As c and t were sometimes transposed, or used interchangeably, in medieval spelling, this can lead to some unresolvable discussions. Just make a decision and stick to it, unless it leads to an earth shattering misreading of the meaning.
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In this formal protogothic example of a document hand from the 12th century, t is short and broad with a wide crived base. |
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In a less formally scribed writ of the reign of Henry II, the letter t is essentially similar. |
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A calligraphic charter of the 13th century has an angular foot on the short, broad t. |
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In this example of cursiva
anglicana, which first appeared in the 13th century, t
is has a wide curved crossbar, while the curve at the base comes up to meet the crossbar. |
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In this formal ecclesiastical charter of the 13th century, the letter t is still short and broad, although the vertical extends above the crossbar. |
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In this example of the formal English chancery hand of the 13th century, based on cursiva anglicana, t is short and wide. |
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This example of t from an early 13th century writ is similar to the above. |
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This 14th century example of t from a French cursive document hand is short, with the cross bar dropped down the vertical. It is written in a cursive manner without a pen lift. |
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In this early 14th century cursive English book hand the t has a very wide crossbar. |
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This example of t from an English 15th century charter fits a similar pattern to the previous examples. |
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In another 15th century charter, t is tiny and wide. |
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This example of t from a formal and mannered version of French bâtarde script is rather taller with a narrow pointed top and a small foot. |
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In the later English chancery hand, as shown here from an Elizabethan document of conservative penmanship and formal quality, t is fairly tall and narrow. |
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In this genealogical document of late 15th or early 16th century, t is formed in a cursive manner, with the crossbar added without a pen lift. |
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In this endorsement on a mid 15th century petition to the English chancery, t still has the short and wide form. |
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Humanistic book hands reverted a form closer to the Gothic textura rather than Caroline minuscule in this case. |
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In this example from a 15th century Italian book hand, t is short with a broad crossbar, as in Caroline minuscule, but the vertical extends above the crossbar and it has an angled, rather than curved, base. |
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This 16th century example dates from after the advent of printing and is influenced by contemporary typefaces. The vertical extends above a narrow crossbar and it has a fine angled foot. |
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| The letter t has evolved slowly, rather than appearing in a bewildering array of forms like some of the more unruly letters, so provided you know which millennium you are in, you should be able to recognise it. |
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 Histories of Individual Letters |
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History of Scripts |
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| What is Paleography? |
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