Presentation comparing the characteristics of Carolingian and Gothic scripts. LIBR-284 - SJSU - Fall 2010

1. Ways of Writing Examining Carolingian and Gothic scripts

2. Introduction In the year 768, Charlemagne became the King of the Franks and by 800, he was Emperor of the West. He was very interested in the growth of writing and book-making, but desired the presence of a legible, standard script that could be used throughout the empire. He called upon Alcuin, an English monk educated at the cathedral school in York, to develop this script. By 789, all books, religious texts and legal records were written in this script, known as Carolingian.

3. Carolingian Script(also known as Carolingian Miniscule, Caroline Half Uncial, Caroline Miniscule and Tours Minuscule.) The hallmark trait of Carolingian script is its legibility. Scribes took care to separate both individual letters and words (with some cursive convenience). It also features rounded curves and ascenders/descenders decreased in length in order to facilitate easier writing and reading. We have retained all of the letters used in Carolingian script with the exception of the tall “S” character.

5. The descender of p was the same length as the bowl. The same is true for the ascender of the letter b.

6. Ligatures rt, st, and ct were rarely used.

7. A half r was used following the letter oor a capital W.

9. Hierarchy of script styles.

10. Mid-minim dots as full-stops.

11. Ascenders of b and d and descender of p are equal to the height of the bowls.

12. Half r used after some vowels, particularly o and e.The Book of Ruth, Italy ca. 1125- 1130. MS 1277, Schoyen Collection, London.

14. Roman Rustic: Used for the table of contents, chapter headings, first lines, subtitles, and at the beginning of paragraphs or sentences.

15. Roman Half-Uncial:Usedfor prefaces and the second lines of text.

17. Proto-Gothic Script This transitional script was used during the 11th and 12th centuries, particularly for administrative documents. As the demand for university textbooks grew, scribes sought to fit more words on the page and to do so in less time. The script became less rounded and more condensed.

19. The half r began to follow letters other than oand W.

20. A small s was used at the end of words.

21. The appearance of g looked more like 8.

22. The left leg of x began to drop.

23. A t written at the end of a word had a downward flick on the cross stroke.

24. ii was written as ij to avoid confusion.

26. Left leg of the x drops behind a preceding letter.

27. Letters are narrower and more tightly compacted.

28. The appearance of g, as it grows more compact begins to look like 8.

29. Small s at the end of words.Excerpt from The Solid Form of Language by Robert Bringhurst (2004).

30. Versals and Conjoining In Proto-Gothic script, versals and conjoining became increasingly more popular. Versals were rounded capital letters with swelling curves and straight, narrow middle strokes. Conjoining or butting between letters such as be, bo, od, og, oo, pe, and po was used as a means of conserving space on the page.

31. Early Gothic Script Early Gothic, or litteramoderna emphasized word uniformity and more text in less space to reduce both time and cost. Scribes writing this script either shortened the letter height and used a narrow pen, or wrote letters using the same height and pen, but with a narrower width. The latter was preferred. There was no clean transition from Carolingian to Gothic script. It happened at different times throughout different countries and was a slow, unordered shift.

33. The uncial d reappeared.

34. The 8style g appeared only at the end of words.

35. Ligature 5t remained, but ctand etdid not.

36. iiwasstill written as ijand tstill featured a downward cross stroke.

37. The left leg of x extended below the minim and beneath the base of the preceding letter.

39. Capital letters took traits from Roman Square, Roman Rustic, and Uncial and exaggerated the lines of round strokes broader at their widest point and the vertical mid-strokes were narrowed. For large letters, the mid-strokes were often eliminated entirely so as not to appear too heavy.

42. W, y, and z became permanent alphabet letters.

43. T featured a pointed top.

44. The uncial d became customary.

45. The angled dash used to signify ibecame a dot.

46. Uwas written as v at the beginning of a word, but as u within a word.

47. Ligature st remained in northern Europe and the British Isles, but ct and et were rare and ae had long since become e.

48. Lower halves of letters were nearly identical and identifying characteristics appeared in the upper halves.

49. Individual letters were subordinate to word design, but the angularity and uniformity of lines was very important.

51. Designs going up the left-hand column.

52. Leg of x extending behind the preceding letter.

53. Ascenders with split ends.

54. Round strokes of capital letters greatly exaggerated.Gothic book script, late 13th c. MS 1555. Schoyen Collection, London.

56. Rounded strokes regained the curves from Carolingian script.

57. The angles produced in textura by halting the pen were done in a single stroke.

58. Pointed top horns were exaggerated, especially for e and a.

59. The half r followed every vowel and most other bowed letters.

61. Horned points are emphasized. Look particularly at the letters a, e, and c.

62. The half r is used consistently throughout.

63. The dash on top of the lowercase i bears more similarity to the modern dot.Excerpt from 31-line Indulgence (1454-55), Gutenberg.

64. Questions? E-mail me at christina.certo@gmail.com if you have any questions about the presentation or scripts described. Thanks!