Hand: upsilon, Exeter 3500

Name
upsilon
Manuscript
Exeter 3500
Script
Unspecified
Scribe
Unspecified
Date
None
Place
None

U3 - EXON Project

This hand may be recognised by the shape of the ampersand with a nearly-flat diagonal stroke and an upward final stroke showing an endstroke; wavy overline. Rather uneven hand that finds it difficult to stick to ruled line. It starts with a very thick nib which changes, at least once, throughout its first stint (98r16-22).

1. Letterforms

a.- Diagonal back rising slightly over the bowl (if at all). a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3 a, Caroline. U3

d.- Round form used mostly. Bowl is often open at top and stem is rather short, starts at about 45º but turns up at the top. Only instance of straight-backed d found in 'Edwi' 259v3. Approach stroke at the top of the ascender, which is about double minim-height. d, Caroline. U3 d, Insular. U3 d, Insular. U3 d, Insular. U3 d, Insular. U3 d, Insular. U3 d, Insular. U3 d, Insular. U3 d, Insular. U3

e.- Broken back and short lower curve which barely rises from the baseline. e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3 e. U3

g.- Round head and short, 3/4 closed and angular tail. Projecting stroke ligatures with following letter and is slightly below the headline. g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3 g, Caroline. U3

h.- Approach stroke at top of the ascender. Both legs normally on the baseline, although the arch may just reach below very slightly whereas the ascender is normally footed. h, Caroline. U3 h, Caroline. U3 h, Caroline. U3 h, Caroline. U3 h, Caroline. U3 h, Caroline. U3

p.- Angular head and short tail finished on a foot. p. U3 p. U3 p. U3 p. U3 p. U3 p. U3 p. U3

s.- Small hood on the left and angular hook with a downward endstroke. Downstroke often has a foot. s, Caroline. U3 s, Caroline. U3 s, Caroline. U3 s, Caroline. U3 s, Caroline. U3 s, Caroline. U3 s, Caroline. U3

t.- Lower curve does not cut across the top stroke. t. U3 t. U3 t. U3 t. U3 t. U3

x.- Lower left branch reaches below the baseline and is hooked up. Upper right branch often has an endstroke (not dissimilar from that in the ampersand). x. U3 x. U3 x. U3 x. U3 x. U3 x. U3 x. U3

æ.- (98r22 pascuæ) Small rounded bowl, flat eye and a prominent projecting tongue. æ, Caroline. U3 æ, Caroline. U3 æ, Caroline. U3 æ, Caroline. U3 æ, Caroline. U3 æ, Caroline. U3

2. Treatment of minims, ascenders & descenders

Minims.- Slopping approach stroke (esp. visible in m and n) and finishing flick forward at foot.

Ascenders.- Not particularly tall, despite being about double minim-height. Approach stroke at the top (in b, h, l) forms a triangular wedge.

Descenders.- Very small too. That of p and q may finish on a flick forward.

3. Form of capitals

D.- Enlarged round-backed form. d, Caroline. U3 d, Insular. U3

F.- Top stroke curled upwards in most occasions. f, Caroline. U3 f, Caroline. U3 f, Caroline. U3 f, Caroline. U3 f, Caroline. U3 f, Caroline. U3 f, Caroline. U3 f, Caroline. U3

T.- Tilde-shaped top stroke. t. U3 t. U3 t. U3 t. U3

4. Forms of punctuation

Punctus simplex seems to be only form of punctuation in use.

5. Form of paraph (gallows mark)

Three-stroke form with additional strokes to the vertical shaft as a sort of decorative patterns. They may range from a single 9-shaped stroke to up to a series of them (on either side of the vertical stroke). 259r16, 259v3, etc. Occasionally, two cross-strokes used.

6. Forms of abbreviation

Ampersand.- Upper branch is nearly horizontal at times and has a downward endstoke. Upper bowl is flat and often open. &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3 &. U3

et nota.- Not used in (a) and (b), but often used in (c). Here, it has a cupped top stroke with an approach stroke, whereas the descender reaches below the baseline and can be either straight or, more often, turn left at the bottom. 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3 7. U3

Overline.- Tilde-shaped macron. Occasionally, tick-shaped form also used. abbrev. stroke. U3 abbrev. stroke. U3 abbrev. stroke. U3 abbrev. stroke. U3 abbrev. stroke. U3 abbrev. stroke. U3

-ur.- Wavy macron similar to that used as overline with an extended tail rising at 45º.

-us.- Open 9-shaped compendium attached to the letter below.

-orum.- N/A.

q- forms.- quę includes both cauda and colon; qua with caroline a.

e cauda.- q-cauda, attenuated s, at times with an extra vertical stroke on top.

pr- forms.- Hook in pro, made with the same curving stroke as bowl of p and slopping down.

other forms.- N/A.

est.- N/A.

7. Forms of suspension

.

8. Ligatures

-ct- ligature: N/A.

-rt- ligature: N/A.

-st- ligature: Very angular and poorly formed 260r9, 10.

-or-: nemoris 98r20. 2-shaped r is very irregular and may even reach below the baseline. r, 2-shaped. U3 r, 2-shaped. U3 r, 2-shaped. U3 r, 2-shaped. U3

9. Method and form of annotation (signes de renvoi?)

Interlinear additions.

10. Method of correction and correction mark

Erasure. Interlinear addition.

11. Treatment of numerals

Between dots, at times with ampersand. v rather than u.

12. Proportions and measurements

Codicology

- Pricking.-

- Ruling.-

13. Other idiosyncrasies (preferred spellings, usages, …)

.

What does he write?

King (Dn)- 98r16-22 [ends quire]

Count of Mortain (Co) – 259r1-61r20; 261v8-2r9

Other relevant information

(a) Finishes entry started by ‘zeta’. No immediate evidence of erasure in that entry.

On fo. 261v, 8 lines by upsilon were erased (including Gallows marks) and subsequently ‘alpha’ entered one and a half entries. One is to assume that the original stint by upsilon ran from 259r1 to, at least, 262r9, even though there seem to be traces of erased text to 262r20. An erased entry on 262v3-5, seems to have been the work of ‘beta’.

The use (or lack) of et nota is rather interesting as the form in not found in either sections (a) or (b), but is frequently used in (c) which, as suggested above, may have possibly followed (b) before an entry and a half were erased and recopied in the hand of ‘alpha’.

a, Caroline

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3

a, Caroline. U3
æ, Caroline

æ, Caroline. U3

æ, Caroline. U3

æ, Caroline. U3

æ, Caroline. U3

æ, Caroline. U3

æ, Caroline. U3
d, Angled-back

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3

d, Insular. U3
d, Caroline

d, Caroline. U3

d, Caroline. U3
e

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3

e. U3
f, Caroline

f, Caroline. U3

f, Caroline. U3

f, Caroline. U3

f, Caroline. U3

f, Caroline. U3

f, Caroline. U3

f, Caroline. U3

f, Caroline. U3
g, Caroline

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3

g, Caroline. U3
h, Caroline

h, Caroline. U3

h, Caroline. U3

h, Caroline. U3

h, Caroline. U3

h, Caroline. U3

h, Caroline. U3
p

p. U3

p. U3

p. U3

p. U3

p. U3

p. U3

p. U3
r, 2-shaped

r, 2-shaped. U3

r, 2-shaped. U3

r, 2-shaped. U3

r, 2-shaped. U3
s, Caroline

s, Caroline. U3

s, Caroline. U3

s, Caroline. U3

s, Caroline. U3

s, Caroline. U3

s, Caroline. U3

s, Caroline. U3
t

t. U3

t. U3

t. U3

t. U3

t. U3

t. U3

t. U3

t. U3

t. U3
x

x. U3

x. U3

x. U3

x. U3

x. U3

x. U3

x. U3
7

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3

7. U3
&

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3

&. U3
overline, abbrev. stroke

abbrev. stroke. U3

abbrev. stroke. U3

abbrev. stroke. U3

abbrev. stroke. U3

abbrev. stroke. U3

abbrev. stroke. U3