Its different styles—Origin of Western alphabets—Various forms of letters—Capitals, uncials, etc.—Texts used in Western Europe—Forms of ancient writings—The roll, or volume—The codex—Tablets—Diptychs, etc.—The square book—How different sizes of books were produced.

Seeing that illumination grew originally out of the decoration of the initial letters, our next point to notice is the penmanship. The alphabet which we now use is that formerly used by the Romans, who borrowed it from the Greeks, who in turn obtained it (or their modification of it) from the Phoenicians, who, lastly it is said, constructed it from that of the Egyptians. Of course, in these repeated transfers the letters themselves, as well as the order of them, underwent considerable alterations. With these we have here no concern. Our alphabet, i.e. the Roman and its variations, is quite sufficient for our story. In order to show as clearly as may be the varieties of lettering and the progress of penmanship from classical times to the revival of the old Roman, letters in the fifteenth century, we offer the following synopsis, which classifies and indicates the development of the different hands used by writers and illuminators of MSS. It is constructed on the information given in Wailly's large work on PalÆography, and in Dr. de Grey Birch's book on the Utrecht Psalter. The former work affords excellent facsimiles, which, together with those given in the plates published by the PalÆographical Society, will give the student the clearest possible ideas respecting these ancient handwritings.

Omitting the cursive or correspondence hand, the letters used by the Romans were of four kinds—capitals (usually made angular to be cut in stone), rustic, uncials, and minuscules.

The rounded capitals were intended to be used in penwork. Uncials differ from capitals only in the letters A, D, E, G, M, Q, T, V, for the sake of ease in writing. It is said that this class of letters was first called uncials from being made an inch (uncia) high, but this is mere tradition; the word is first used on Jerome's preface to the Book of Job. No uncials have ever been found measuring more than five-eighths of an inch in height.

For the assistance of such students as may wish for examples we must refer to certain MSS. and reproductions in which the foregoing hands are exemplified.

CIRCA FOURTH CENTURY.

Capitals, yet not pure.

The Vatican Vergil, No. 3225, throughout (Birch, p. 14; Silvestre's PalÉographie universelle, pl. 74).

With regard to the relative antiquity of capitals and uncials, M. de Wailly observes: “The titles in pure uncials, but less than the text itself, give an excellent index to the highest antiquity. This is verified in MSS. 152, 2630, 107 of the Bibl. du Roi, etc. MSS. of the seventh or eighth century, whether on uncial or demi-uncial, or any other letter, are never constant in noting the title at the top of the page, or the kind of writing will vary, or if uncials be constantly used, the titles will not be smaller than the text. These variations become still greater in the following centuries. The ornaments which relieve the titles of each page commence about the eighth century” (i. p. 49 C).

Capitals and Uncials.

The Homilies of St. Augustine (Silvestre, pl. 74).

Augustine Opera, Paris Lib., 11641 (PalÆograph. Soc., pl. 42, 43).

Rustic.

The Second Vatican Vergil, No. 3867 (Wailly, pl. 2), called the “Codex Romanus.”

SIXTH CENTURY.

Rustic and Uncial.

The Montamiata Bible (Birch, 35; Wailly, pl. 2, 4).

Rustic and Minuscule.

The Cambridge Gospels (Westwood, PalÆograph. Sacra Pictoria, pl. 45).

Uncials.

Gospels in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 5463.

Paris Lib., Gregory of Tours (Silvestre, pl. 86).

Vienna Imp. Lib., Livy (Silvestre, pl. 75).

Brit. Mus., Harl. 1775 (PalÆograph. Soc., pl. 16).

SEVENTH CENTURY.

Uncials and Minuscule.

The St. Chad's Gospels in library of Lichfield Cathedral (PalÆograph. Soc., pl. 20, 21, 35).

NINTH CENTURY.

Capitals and Minuscules.

Paris Lib., Bible of Charles the Bald.

There is scarcely anything more difficult to judge than the true age of square capital MSS. or of pure uncials. Even the rustic capitals, like the first Vatican Vergil, No. 3225, are extremely rare. The letters in this MS. are about three-sixteenths of an inch high.

TEXTS IN USE IN WESTERN EUROPE BEFORE THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE.

Lombardic. The national hand of Italy. Founded on the old Roman cursive, it does not attain to any great beauty until the tenth or eleventh century. Examples may be seen in PalÆographical Society, pl. 95, and in the excellent lithographs published by the monks of Monte Cassino (Paleografia artistica di Monte Cassino, Longobardo-Cassinese, tav. xxxiv., etc.). A very fine example occurs in pl. xv., dated 1087-88. Its characteristic letters are a, e, g, t.

Visigothic. The national hand of Spain. Also founded on the old Roman cursive. It becomes an established hand in the eighth century, and lasts until the twelfth. Examples occur in Ewald and Loewe, Exempla ScripturÆ VisigoticÆ, Heidelberg, 1883. It was at first very rude and illegible, but afterwards became even handsome. A fine example exists in the British Museum (PalÆograph. Soc., pl. 48). Its characteristic letters are g, s, t.

Merovingian. The national hand of France. A hand made up chiefly of loops and angles in a cramped, irregular way. Its derivation the same as the preceding. In the seventh century it is all but illegible. In the eighth it is much better, and almost easy to read.

Celtic. The national hand of Ireland. It is founded on the demi-uncial Roman, borrowed as to type from MSS. taken to Ireland by missionaries. It is bold, clear, and often beautiful, lending itself to some of the most astonishing feats of penmanship ever produced.

Such are the chief varieties of writing found in the MSS. produced before the great revival of the arts and learning which took place during the reign of Charles the Great (Karl der Grosse), known familiarly as Charlemagne.

Wattenbach (Schriftwesen, etc.) says that uncials date from the second century A.D. From examples still extant of the fifth and following centuries, it seems that while the Roman capitals were not uncommon, in Celtic MSS. the form generally adopted was the uncial. It was the form also usually chosen for ornamentation or imitation in those Visigothic, Merovingian, or Lombardic MSS., which made such remarkable use of fishes, birds, beasts, and plants for the construction of initial letters and principal words, of which we see so many examples in the elaborately illustrated Catalogue of the library at Laon by Ed. Fleury, and in that of Cambray, by M. Durieux. Most of these pre-Carolingian designs are barbarous in the extreme, dreadfully clumsy in execution, but they evince considerable ingenuity and a strong predilection for symbolism.

Before concluding this chapter perhaps something should be said concerning the shape of books, though this is a matter somewhat outside the scope of our proper subject. Yet, as the brief digression will afford an opportunity for the explanation of certain terms used in MSS., we will avail ourselves of it.

The ancient form of writing upon skins and papyrus was that of the roll. The Hebrew, Arabic, or Greek terms for this do not concern us, but its Latin name was volumen, “something rolled,” and from this we obtain our word volume. Such words as “explicit liber primus” etc., which we often find in early MSS., refer to this roll-form; explicare in Latin meaning to unroll; hence, apropos of a chapter or book, to finish. When transferred to the square form, or codex, it simply means, “here ends book first,” etc.

The modern book shape first came into use with the beginning of the Christian era under the name of codex. Here it will be necessary to explain that caudex, codex, in Latin, meant a block of wood, and had its humorous by-senses among the Roman dramatists, as the word block has among ourselves, such as blockhead.[5] So caudicalis provincia was a jocular expression for the occupation of wood-splitting.

Whether the word had originally any connection with cauda, “a tail,” is not here worth considering, as if so, it had long lost the connection; and when used to mean a book, had only the sense of a board, or a number of boards from two upwards, fastened together by means of rings passed through holes made in their edges.

Probably the first use was as plain smooth boards only; examples of such are still in existence. Then of boards thinly covered with, usually, black wax. A pair of such tablets, wax-covered, was a common form of a Roman pocket- or memorandum-book. It was also used as a means of conveying messages, the reply being returned on the same tablets. The method was to write on the wax with a fine-pointed instrument called a style, the reverse end of which was flattened. When the person to whom the message was sent had read it, he (or she) simply flattened out the writing, smoothed it level, and then wrote the reply on the same wax. School-children did their exercises on these tablets, housewives and stewards kept their accounts on them, and on them literary people jotted down their ideas as they do now in their pocket-books. Extant examples of these early books, or tablets, are fairly numerous, and may be seen in most public museums. A codex of two leaves was called a diptych; of three, a triptych, etc. The codex form was used for legal documents, wills, conveyances, and general correspondence. Hence the Roman postman was called a tabellarius, the tablets containing correspondence being tied with a thread or ribbon and sealed. This custom of sending letters on tablets survived for some centuries after Augustan times. Wattenbach gives several interesting instances of their mediÆval use.[6]

[6] Schriftwesen, 48.