The Handwriting of the Renaissance: Being the Development and Characteristics of the Script of Shakspere’S Time 9780231894319

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T H E HANDWRITING OF THE RENAISSANCE

THE HANDWRITING OF THE RENAISSANCE By

SAMUEL

A.

T A N N E N B A U M

Being the Development and Characteristics of the Script of Shakspere's T i m e With

an I n t r o d u c t i o n

by A s h l e y H.

Thorndike

Can you read anything you see? Ay, if I know the letters and the language. Romeo and Juliet, I, ii.

NEW

YORK

^ J

J

PRfSS

MCMXXX

Copyright 1930 COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY

PRESS

Published November, 1930

PRINTED IN THE THE PLIMPTON

UNITED STATES O F

AMERICA

PRESS, NORWOOD, MASS.

TO MY GOOD FRIEND

JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS WHO SUGGESTED MY WRITING THIS BOOK

CONTENTS Introduction

xi

I

The Renaissance Script

3

II

General Characteristics

16

III

The Minuscules

27

IV

The Majuscules

92

V VI VII

Abbreviations

119

Punctuation and Other Marks

139

Numerals

153

Bibliography

161

Facsimiles and Transcripts

169

Index

199

FACSIMILES The Secretary Alphabet, 1571 I II III

Frontispiece

Part of a I.etter from Queen Philippa, 1339 • •

I

A Page of " T h e Poem of Claudian," 1445

173

Page of " T h e Legend of Good Women," before H5°

IV V VI VII

*75

A Page of " T h e Wars of Alexander," about 1450

177

Part of a Legal Document, 1457

179

A Page of "Wisdom," about 1460

181

A Page of " Jonathas the Jew," between 1450 and 1500

VIII IX X XI

7I

Part of a Page of " M a n k i n d , " about 1475

183 . .

185

Part of a Page of " W i t and Science," about 1550

187

Part of a Personal Account, 1553

189 . .

191

Part of a Page of "Orlando Furioso," about 1590

193

XIII

Part of a Page of Manningham's Diary, 1601

195

XIV

Part of a Page of " T w o Noble Ladies," about 1620

197

XII

Part of a Page of " W i t and Wisdom," 1579

INTRODUCTION This book might never have come into existence had it not been for a controversy of considerable proportions over Shakspere's handwriting. The book indeed owes something to the very scholars with whom its author has been most at odds, for it was this group of English scholars who first called our attention to the necessity of a close knowledge of Elizabethan handwriting and printing for the sound editing of Shaksperian and other Elizabethan texts. To a cautious American like myself, it seemed that their enthusiasm led them a little too fast and far in applying their new-found knowledge to the solution of Shaksperian problems, and I was among the first to welcome Dr. Tannenbaum's penetrating and sometimes devastating criticism. But he would, I know, join with me in expressing appreciation of the brilliant initiative which has already opened the way to significant developments in textual study. The need of a compact and well illustrated manual on Elizabethan handwriting has become obvious to all literary students, and they will thank Dr. Tannenbaum for the enormous labor and pains which he has given to their service. I believe that the book should also prove useful to students in other fields of the Renaissance and especially to all concerned with documents of that period. I may venture to add a personal word in admiration of the author's extraordinary energy and versatility. He is a practicing physician, specializing in mental disorders, and yet for many years he has also been a Shaksperian student and collector and a highly qualified expert in handwriting. When certain theories were advanced as to Shakspere's handwriting, Dr. Tannenbaum naturally joined eagerly in a research which gave free play for both of his avocations. He was able to make most important contributions to the study of Elizabethan manuscripts because he was the first to apply to them the technique of modern experts in handwriting. No doubt such application xi

xii

INTRODUCTION

of modern methods will be extended widely in paleography. Some of the results of Dr. Tannenbaum's investigations brought him into conflict with many authorities and especially with Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, who had attempted to identify as Shakspere's the handwriting of certain pages in the manuscript of the old and anonymous play, Sir Thomas Moore; but Dr. Tannenbaum has long been known by many non-controversial studies, and more recently by his annual bibliographies and by his ardent and indefatigable interest in all kinds of Elizabethan research. This volume is another witness of his zeal in the service of his fellow students. ASHLEY H .

THORNDIKE

T H E H A N D W R I T I N G OF T H E RENAISSANCE

CHAPTER THE

RENAISSANCE

I SCRIPT

About twenty-eight hundred years ago — half a century more or less either way does not matter — some adventurous Greeks broke up their homes in the vicinity of ancient Chalcis, in Euboea, and set out in quest of new homes. Wind and wave took them, we may conjecture, through the Strait of Messina and up the Tyrrhenian Sea. Attracted by the promontory which commands what is now known as " t h e beautiful Bay

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