Assignment Three: Gothic Writing Forms

Nicole Texeira

INFO 284-11

Introduction

• In this presentation, we will be going over two forms of Gothic writing.

• We will discussing different characteristics in Gothic Textura Quadrata, Gothic Littera Bastarda, and Gothic Textura Prescisus.

• We will define all components within Gothic Writing Forms.

Gothic Writing Development

• The rise of literacy increased due to the creation of universities.

• Gothic script or Gothic Minuscule was inspired by architecture.

• The Gothic period lasted from 1150 to 1500.

• Gothic text is often known as the Old English or Black Letter texts due to the heavy letter forms.

• Source: (Marcos, 2014)

Gothic Textura Quadrata

• Gothic Textura Quadrata became the standard for scripts and inscriptions.

• Characteristics of script: – Primary text between the 12th – 15th centuries.

– Also known as the black letter gothic which is clear and dark.

– Angular letter forms or textura are likened to a “woven” appearance (Ductus, 2015).

– Quadrata is defined as diamond letter shape .

Example of Gothic Textura Quadrata • This example is taken from Douce Apocalypse; the

Apocalypse of St John 15:7-8 (c. 1270). The manuscript was made from Henry III’s son, Edward I in 1270 (Ductus, 2015).

• The script has heavy strokes that create strong square forms.

• The use of capital letters within the text reveal the beginning of new sentences.

• Ligatures within the text include “pp” and “ct”.

• Simple punctus marks are used throughout this text.

• The following slides will use this text to define aspects of this letter form in more detail.

Capital Letters

• The use of capital letters in Gothic Textura Quadrata manuscripts determined the beginning of a chapter, subheading, or sentence.

• Capital letters were illuminated, or older forms of writing styles such as Uncial or Roman Capitals were utilized.

• Scribes had the freedom to use their artistic freedom in creation capital letters within texts.

Example of Capital Letters in Gothic ScriptCanon Missae (1484)

Ligatures

• Ligatures are a way in which two distinct letters are linked to create one new letter form.

• Gothic Textura Quadrata had 11 ligatures.

Image Sources: & (Marcos, 2014) & Historia Scholastica II.25 (1283-1300 A.D.) (Ductus, 2015)

Punctuation• Gothic Textura Quadrata had several different

types of specialized punctuation.

• The four most popular punctuation marks included: • Punctus elevatus: inverted semi colon with a dash to the left

• Punctus flexus: small u shape over a period

• Punctus interrogativus: medieval version of a question mark

• Interpunctus: small square placed in the between words

Sources: Marcos (2014) & Reimer (2015).

Comparing Two Gothic Texts

Gothic Textura Prescisus vel sine Pedibus

• This text is considered the most formal of Gothic texts.

• The term sine pedibus refers to the short and tall letter forms like “m” and “s” lack serifs or “feet”.

Gothic Textura Quadrata

Ormesby Psalter (1300)

• This text is known as the Black Letter and is a heavier script.

• Gothic Textura Quadrata have minims (serifs) that do not connect to each letter, making the text harder to read.

Psalter or Breviary (13th C)

Gothic Littera Bastarda

• Bastarda is large category of script that encompasses a large variation of Gothic writing forms.

• Nicknamed: Cursive Bastarda, Cursive Formata, Hybrida, Lettre de Forme, and lettre de Bourguignonne.

• Bastarda was introduced in 1425, in northwestern Europe and was popular in England.

• Source: (Marcos, 2014)

Characteristics

• Bastarda is a hybrid script that combines styles of the informal cursive to the noble hand of the textura.

• Bastard script were written with a various degree of elegance and formality, and scribes included miniature paintings and illuminated letters to texts.

• Many French and Belgian Book of Hours were written in Gothic Littera Bastarda.

• Source: (Marcos, 2014)

Example of Gothic Littera BastardaHere’s an example of a Gothic Littera Bastarda within a Book of Hours “Vigils of the Dead” text from 1450-1500.

• The letter forms within this Book of Hours have fairly vertical stroke in letter forms.

• There are minims (hooked upright strokes) seen in the letters u, m, and n. Minims examples below.

• The topic inscription in red is majuscule, meaning the letters are of even height and are uppercase letters.

• Notice the illumination of the text and specific letters.

• Source: (Ductus, 2015)

Conjoins and Ligatures

• Conjoins and ligatures are linked letter within medieval manuscripts.

• Conjoins and ligatures were used so that scribes could shorten words and write faster.

• Often, extra strokes (ligatures) were added so that combining letters were easier to achieve.

• The following are common conjoins and ligatures seen in Gothic Littera Bastarda scripts.

• Sources: (Asplund, 2001) & (Marcos, 2014).

Ascenders and Descenders

• Ascenders are the top vertical part of a lower case or minuscule script.

• Popular ascender letters forms are l,h, k, and d.

• Descenders are the bottom vertical part of a minuscule script.

• Popular descender letter forms are p, g, f, and q.

Letter forms taken from Book of Hours “Vigils of the Dead” text from 1450-

1500.Source: (Ductus, 2015).

PunctuationUsing Book of Hours “Vigils of the Dead” text from 1450-1500 as the example for punctuation within the text.

• Many Gothic Littera Bastarda texts featured simple punctuation just like this example of Book of Hours.

• Within this text, there examples of simple punctus marks and punctus elevatus.

Cadels• Cadels are extremely creative and

patterned capital letters that are most commonly seen in the beginning of a manuscript in the book plate (ex libris).

• Often, Cadels are letters majuscule with ascending and descending flourishes and illumination.

• These decorative letters were developed from the 14th century.

• This example is from the ex libris Belles Heures written by Jean Duc de Berry in 1405-1409.

• Let’s take a closer look at the capital L and D shapes from this example. • Sources: (Ductus, 2015) & (Truong,2010)

Image source: (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010)

References

• Asplund, R. (2001). Middle kingdom scribes’ handbook.[pdf] Retrieved from: http://www.midrealm.org/heraldry/forms/MKScribesHandbook.pdf

• Columbia University Libraries. (2004) Printing history and book arts # 2. [website]. Retrieved from: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/exhibitions/treasures/images/750/046.jpg

• Ductus. (2015). Sessions 12-15. Retrieved from: http://amazon.sjsu.edu/html-ductus/engine/mother.html

• Marcos, J. (2014). Latin paleography. [website]. Retrieved from: http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/jmag0042/LATIN_PALEOGRAPHY.pdf

• Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2010). “Folio 1r”. [image]. Retrieved from: http://blog.metmuseum.org/artofillumination/manuscript-pages/folio-1r/

• Reimer (2015). “Manuscript Studies”. [website]. Retrieved from: http://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/ms-course/course/punc.htm

• Tillotson, D. (2014). “Medieval Writing”. [website]. Retrieved from: http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/history2.htm

• Truong, A. (2010). “Sumptuously illustrated medieval manuscripts”. [blog post]. Retrieved from: http://elogedelart.canalblog.com/archives/2010/02/24/17033769.html