Manuscript Studies
Medieval and Early Modern

IV.viii. Paleography Sample: William Herebert, OFM

Herebert's hand is a clear and not inelegant cursive bookhand of the early fourteenth century, of a type very common in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century manuscripts produced in England, and for which M. B. Parkes coined the term "Anglicana" (English Cursive Book Hands, 1250-1500: the paleographical features of the hand are described on pp. xiv-xvi, and cf. Plates 1-3). The principal distinctive features of "Anglicana," as described by Parkes, are these: "two-compartment a, with a large upper lobe extending above the general level of the other letters; d with a looped ascender; f and long-s in which the stem descends below the line of writing, curves to the left at the foot, and is frequently followed by a connecting stroke rising to the head of the letter; '8'-shaped two-compartment g; long-tailed r; and a cursive version of short-s based upon the capital form" (xiv-xv). Each of these characteristics can be easily seen in the adjacent reproduction; note that, besides the "long-tailed r" (in the first line in "Erodes" and "whar"; l. 2: "art," "cristes"; cf. "sterre" at the end of l. 4), Herebert also frequently uses a 2-shaped r (l. 1: "dredinge"; l. 2: "sore"). Other observations could be made: for example, Herebert regularly dots his y, presumably to increase its distinction from, and to avoid confusion with, the thorn; on the other hand, t and c are scarcely distinct from one another, and easily confused; all of the letters are closely spaced, and opposing curves regularly bite into one another (note, for instance, the "oc" combination in "tocominge" at the end of l. 2); there are serif strokes at the top of k, l and h; the second stroke of h regularly continues below the line and curves back below the body of the letter; the w is consistently formed with two downward strokes (sometimes but not always inclined from the vertical) followed by a yogh shape; and so on. Herebert's scribal practice may be somewhat conservative, in that his hand does not reflect the single-stroke e which Parkes identifies as a "reform" introduced to the hand in the early fourteenth century (xv).

Herebert's orthographic practice reflects his dialect: the voicing of initial fricatives (a nearly consistent use of /v/ where Present-Day English would expect /f/: "vrom so verre" for "from so far"; "uordon" for "for-done"), the rounding of vowels ("sunne" for "sin," "lomb" for "lamb"), and the use of -inge (not -inde) for the present participle are all consistent with his origins in the West Midlands (see The Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English). Also note his occasional use of {h} for yogh (usually before {t}): "myhte" ("might").