Script or Type of Writing

Script or Type of Writing

THE WRITING ON THE PAGE

“Paleography (literally, “ancient writing”) is the study of older forms of handwriting and their evolution over time. Expert paleographers recognize the personal characteristics of individual scribes, such as the idiosyncratic “double slash–dot–double slash” decorative flourishes used by Adam Pinkhurst in the Ellesmere Chaucer. Because most medieval scribes remain unidentified, scholars rely on paleography to establish the dates of manuscripts and the circumstances of their copying. Professional scribes could write in any of several styles of handwriting, depending on the type and content of the text required. The Ellesmere copy of the Canterbury Tales was a work of secular literature written in Middle English rather than Latin and planned as a large-format volume with miniature paintings and elaborate illumination. It uses a large, formal display script known as Anglicana formata.” (Robertson, p. 5).

By the late 13th century, cursiva anglicana was being used for books as well as documents and by the 14th century a relatively formal variant, angelicana formata had evolved for book production. Anglicana formata can be defined as formal cursive script; it is a gothic variation.   The gothic script is also known as the Caroline Minuscule; it has more spacing between letters. Later, the words became closer for more angular/distorted look.

The Anglicana Formata has long ascending and descending lines, that are similar to the Bastarda form of cursive writing. There were many different ways of writing manuscripts including the Romanesque and beneventan scripts, gothic scripts, and humanistic scripts. However, the gothic scripts were used for important display books and cursive scripts were used for works that were written more quickly, such as chronicles or histories (Harrison). With the increase in the use of the Middle English language in literary works, it was cursive script that was used for writing the vernacular. This is known as the Bastarda cursive script. This form was used for manuscripts intended for university study, for government and commercial documents, and vernacular literature (Avrin, p.192). The term Bastarda means “lowborn” and it was written faster and appreed more angular thatn standard Gothich (Avrin, p. 192). The type of script used also provides information on the Ellesmere’s history. Since the text is written in cursive script, we can acknowledge that the language of the manuscript is written in vernacular, which is Middle English. This is interesting that there is different writing technique depended on what the text of the manuscript is. The fact that Chaucer’s tales were written with a cursive script also indicate that the text was written quickly. This quickness implies that there were many documents that needed to be copied. Ths Bastarda cursive script writing was a way for scribes to copy works quickly. In another way, the cursive script is for works that need to be written fast. According to Avrin, the cursive script was everyday handwriting: “most people wrote their correspondence and family or public documents on was tablets…in their own everyday cursive script. The everyday “common” language of the text complements the writing of the text, but what does this mean when an ordinary text is embellished in decorative boarders? The decorative boarders suggest that the book is more than everyday vernacular literature.