From Valerie Moyses
You state that “for centuries the writing style for legal and religious documents hardly changed” (25 June, p 54). The main book-hand styles used in the millennium before printing were: uncial, half-uncial, Caroline minuscule, gothic and humanist.
There was also a racy italic called “bastarda”. There were secretary hands (civil service) and chancery hands (legal). Each of the book-hands had distinctive variations across Europe, too: so you can hardly claim the writing styles “hardly changed”.
The styles of illuminations, inks, pens and parchment all went through changes, too. This is just a small section of the fascinating study of palaeography. I’d love to see more of it in Â鶹´«Ã½.
Bloxham, Oxfordshire, UK
