CHAPTER IV

ACQUIRING A FORMAL HAND: (3) MODELS

Models — Notes on Construction: Script I. — Coupling the Letters — Spacing: Letters, Words, & Lines — Uncial Capitals: Script II. — Numerals & Punctuation Marks — Of _Copying_ MSS. Generally.

MODELS

The best training is found in the practice of an _upright round-hand_ (p. 302). Having mastered such a writing, the penman can acquire any other hands—sloping or angular—with comparative ease (p. 323).

The English Half-Uncial writing in Plate VII. is an excellent model. Those who have sufficient time to spare for the careful study of this, or any other legible and beautiful round-hand, should obtain access to the MSS. in a museum, or procure good _facsimiles_ (see Plates at end of Book, & p. 388).

Those who have not sufficient time for a careful and thorough study of an early MS. will find it [p071] easier to begin with a simplified and modernised writing, such as Script I. (fig. 49).

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 49.›]

Before copying a hand it is well to examine carefully the manuscript from which it is taken: observe its general appearance: note the character and mode of the ruling, and the sizes and relative proportions of page, text, margins, and ornaments. With regard to the actual forms of the letters and the mode of their arrangement, such a method of analysis as the following will be found useful, as an aid to accuracy in copying, and definiteness in self-criticism. [p072]

_A METHOD OF ANALYSIS._ ‹Example›: Analysis of Script I. (as in fig. 50).

1. THE WRITING—general character: _Modernised Half-Uncial._

(Ruling)—Double or single lines, _Double lines_ &c. (see pp. 304, 305): (_see figs._ 59, 65).

Letters—round or angular: _round._ upright or sloping: _upright._ coupled or separate: _coupled._

2. THIN STROKES: horizontal or _horizontal._ oblique (see figs. 10, 9):

3. THICK STROKES: heavy, medium, _medium._ or light (see fig. 183):

4. “HEADS” & “FEET”: character _solid, triangular, &c._ (see fig. 145):

5. STEMS (_ascending_ & _medium._ _descending_): short, medium, or long (see fig. 183):

6. SPACING (_Letters, Words,_ _fairly close_ _Lines_): close or wide (see (_see figs._ 54, 55). fig. 154):

7. ARRANGEMENT: in mass (of equal _in mass of equal lines_ lines), or in column (of (_see fig._ 66). unequal lines) (see fig. 154):

8. MEASUREMENTS (& _proportions_ _see pp._ 324, 327): width of thick stroke (see p. 83): _l = about 3/32″ wide._ height of _o_ and _d_ (see pp. _o = about 3/8″ high._ 82, 84): _d = about 11/16″ high._ writing lines, distance apart _Lines 1″ apart._ (see p. 82):

9. COMPONENT PARTS: number and _a has 3 strokes._ forms (see pp. 75, 81, 84): _b has 3 strokes._ _c has 2 strokes._ _and so on_ (_see fig. 51_).

[p073]

The pen generally is held so as to give approximately horizontal thin strokes (see p. 66), but in making «v» («w», «y») and «x», parts of «z», &c., it is “slanted.” In figs. 51 and 57 these forms are marked with a small diagonal cross × (see also p. 25).

Most of the strokes begin as _down-strokes_, but at the _end_ of a _down-stroke_, when the ink is flowing freely, the stroke may be continued in an upward direction (as in _coupling-strokes_, &c., the _feet_ of letters, the thin stroke of «x», and, if preferred, in making the last stroke of «g», «s», and «y»).

While the ink is still wet in a _down-stroke_, the nib may be replaced on it and be pushed _up_ward and outward to form the round arch in «b», «h», «m», «n», «p», and «r». This stroke, reversed, is also used for the top of «t».

The making of these UP-strokes is shown diagrammatically in fig. 51.

‹Note.›—The forms +«oin»× in fig. 51 contain all the principal strokes in this alphabet, and are therefore useful for early practice.

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 50.›]

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 51.›]

COUPLING THE LETTERS

The letters are joined together by means of their _coupling-strokes_, which for this purpose may be slightly drawn out, and forward, from the naturally round forms of the letters (see «c», «e», &c., fig. 52 & fig. 59).

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 52.›]

The _coupling-strokes_ are finishing strokes—and as such are akin to _serifs_ (p. 244)—growing out of or added to such stems as need “finishing.”

Coupling enables one to write faster and with [p076] more freedom, the concluding or “coupling” stroke not being _slowed down_, but written with a dash, which is covered by the first stroke of the succeeding [p077] letter. It keeps the individual words more distinct, and therefore permits closer spacing of the text. Coupling is for convenience _and_ legibility, and where it tends to interfere with legibility, we must be careful. The freer and more _cursive_ the hand, the greater is the tendency to join and run letters together, as in ordinary writing.

It is preferable to couple letters below, if possible. Couplings above are sometimes apt to confuse the reading; for example, the cross-bar of «t» (though the most natural coupling for the scribe to use—see _petatis_, Plate VII.) should generally be made to pass over or fall short of the succeeding letter (see fig. 52).

SPACING: LETTERS, WORDS, & LINES

The letters of a word are fitted together so that there is a general effect of evenness. This evenness is only to be attained by practice: it is characteristic of rapid skilful writing, and cannot be produced satisfactorily by any system of measurement while the writer’s hand is still slow and uncertain. It is worth noting, however, that the white interspaces vary slightly, while the actual distances between the letters vary considerably, according to whether the adjacent strokes curve (or slant) away or are perpendicular (figs. 53, 152).

It is sufficient for the beginner to take care that two curved letters are made very near each other, and that two straight strokes are spaced well apart.

If the curves are too far apart there will be spots of light, and where several heavy stems are made too close together, “blots” of dark, marring the evenness of the page. [p078]

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 53.›]

_Words_ are kept as close as is compatible with legibility. The average space between two words is the width of the letter «o» (fig. 54). [p079]

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 54.›]

_The Lines_ in _massed writing_ (see p. 262) are kept as close together as is compatible with legibility. The usual distance apart of the _writing-lines_ is _about_ three times the height of the letter «o» (see also p. 327).

The _descending strokes_ of the upper line must “clear” the _ascending strokes_ of the lower line. _Interlocking_ of these strokes may be avoided by the experimental placing of «p» over «d» (fig. 55).

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 55.›]

UNCIAL CAPITALS: SCRIPT II.

These _modernised Uncials_ (see fig. 56, & p. 300) are intended to go with Script I., and their analysis and mode of construction are almost identical with those of Script I. (see pp. 72, 73). [p082]

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 56.›]

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 57.›]

_Grouping_: Uncials have no _coupling-strokes_; when several are used together, they are not joined, but evenly grouped, allowing as before for curves and straight strokes (see p. 77).

_Spacing_: (a) _When used with Script I._, Uncials are written on the same lines, and have to follow the same spacing (in spite of their longer stems).

(b) _When Uncials are used by themselves_, their spacing may be wider (p. 297).

‹Note.›—The height of _Uncial_ «o» is about equal to the height of the _Half-Uncial_ «d».

NUMERALS & PUNCTUATION MARKS (See fig. 57.)

These are best made with a “slanted” pen (fig. 9).

When writing “Arabic numerals,” «1» and «0» may be made _on the line_, «2468» _ascending_, and «3579» _descending_.

OF _COPYING_ MSS. GENERALLY

When copying a MS. it is best to choose a complete page—or part of a page—to be copied in facsimile.

Two or three lines are copied to begin with; then the composition of the individual letters and words is studied by means of a large pen; and finally the whole page is copied in facsimile. (Of _practising_, see pp. 85, 86).

Make a general examination and analysis as suggested at p. 71. Accurate measurements will be found helpful.

Take the heights of the «o» and the «d», and the distance apart of the writing-lines with dividers [p083] The width of the thick stroke is best found by making experimental thick strokes—the _full width_ of the pen nib—on a scrap of paper: cut the paper in half across the thick strokes, and place the cut edge on the _thickest_ strokes in the original MS., you will then find whether the pen nib should be cut wider or narrower.

The direction of the _thickest_ strokes is approximately at right angles to the direction of the thin strokes; which commonly approaches the horizontal in early round hands, and is oblique in other hands (see figs. 9 and 10). The positions both of these strokes in the model, and of your pen, determine the angle of the nib. Therefore, _cut the nib across at such an angle to the shaft of the pen that, when you hold the pen naturally, the direction of the thin strokes which it makes on the writing paper will coincide with the direction of the thin strokes in the model_; but

(_a_) The way in which the shaft is held, (_b_) The angle at which the nib is cut, (_c_) The position of the writing paper,

may all be slightly varied, so that the direction of the thin strokes can be followed exactly (see p. 66).

The writing paper is cut and ruled exactly in accordance with the model; and the heights of the letters and the widths of the thick strokes in the copy agree as nearly as possible with those in the original. It is therefore a good test for accuracy—_when a few lines of writing have been copied_—to measure and compare their lengths. If they correspond with their originals, it goes far to prove the copy a good one.

Before copying more of the page, the construction of the letters should be carefully studied. The number and the forms of pen-strokes in each letter [p084] are found by examination—with a magnifying glass if necessary—and by the experimental putting together of strokes, to form a similar letter. For this a large pen, such as a reed, is useful, and it is a good plan to write individual letters and words exactly two, three, or four times their _height_ in the model: both the pen nib and the individual letters are made correspondingly two, three, or four times as _wide_ as in the original.

It is particularly important, in copying, to preserve accurately the proportion of the _thick stroke_ to the _height and width_ of a letter (see p. 324). These are conveniently measured by the pen nib itself, or by the estimated width of the thick stroke; thus, in the writing shown in fig. 50, the _width_ of the «o» is approximately _five_, and the _height_ approximately _four_, times the width of the thick stroke.

Not only must the copier ascertain what the forms are like and what are their proportions, but he must try to find out _how they were made_. This is of the greatest importance, for the manner of making a letter, or even a single stroke, affects its form and character with a definite tendency (see p. 416 & fig. 172). And this becomes more marked the faster the writing. An apparently right form may yet be wrongly—if slowly—made; but in rapid writing, a wrong manner of handling the pen will inevitably produce wrong forms. As the real virtue of penmanship is attained only when we can write quickly, it is well worth training the hand from the beginning in the proper manner.

Patient and careful examination should be made of the changing pen-strokes, and of the mode in which they join—to form letters—and begin and end—to form “heads” and “feet.” This, accompanied [p085] by practical experiments in cutting and handling the pen, will bring out details of the utmost technical value. A certain amount of legitimate “faking” (p. 246), play of the pen, and sleight of hand (p. 311), may be found, but, in the main, the regular, natural, _thick_ and _thin_ strokes of the pen, and the orderly arrangement of the writing, give to a manuscript its beauty and character.

Then having cut the nib rightly, you may, in a sense, _let the pen do the writing_, while you merely follow the strokes of the model, and you will, in course of time, have the pleasure of seeing the same beautiful writing—in the very manner of the ancient scribes—growing under your own hand.

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