The Book of Kells, c. AD 800, is lettered in a majuscule script called "insular half uncial" because it was in use in the British Isles.

Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. From the 8th century to the 13th century the script was more often used as a display script in headings and titles. Image of page from the Book of Kells, a 1200 year old book in public domain. ... Image of page from the Book of Kells, a 1200 year old book in public domain. ... This page (folio 292r) contains the lavishly decorated text that opens the Gospel of John. ... Events December 25, Rome, coronation of Charles the Great (Charlemagne) as emperor by Pope Leo III. Celtic monks begin work on the Book of Kells on the Island of Iona. ... Majuscules or capital letters (in the Roman alphabet: A, B, C, ...) are one type of case in a writing system. ... Calligraphy in a Latin Bible of AD 1407 on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Illustration of a 15th century scribe This is about scribe, the profession. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ...

Development

Early uncial script most likely developed from late Roman cursive. Early forms are characterized by broad single stroke letters using simple round forms taking advantage of the new parchment and vellum surfaces, as opposed to the angular, multiple stroke letters which are more suited for rougher surfaces, such as papyrus. In the oldest examples of uncial, such as the De bellis macedonicis manuscript in the British Library, all of the letters are disconnected from one another, and word separation is typically not used. Word separation, however, is characteristic of later uncial usage. A modern example of ancient (or old) Roman cursive; hae sunt litterae Romanae (these are Roman letters) Roman cursive is a form of handwriting (or, a script) used in ancient Rome and to some extent into the Middle Ages. ... Stroke can mean: In medicine, a cerebrovascular accident (or cerebral accident) A sunstroke In writing, a single line without any break such as stroke in graphics or Chinese characters, see stroke order. ... Look up letter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... German parchmenter, 1568 Parchment is a material for the pages of a book or codex, made from fine calf skin, sheep skin or goat skin. ... Vellum was originally a translucent or opaque material produced from calfskin that had been soaked, limed and unhaired, and then dried at normal temperature under tension, usually on a wooden device called a stretching frame. ... Ţ For other uses, see Papyrus (disambiguation). ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ...

As the script evolved over the centuries, the characters became more complex. Specifically, around AD 600, flourishes and exaggerations of the basic strokes began to appear in more manuscripts. Ascenders and descenders were the first major alterations, followed by twists of the tool in the basic stroke and overlapping. By the time the more compact minuscule scripts arose circa AD 800, some of the evolved uncial styles formed the basis for these simplified, smaller scripts. Uncial was still used, particularly for copies of the Bible, tapering off until around the 10th century. There are over 500 surviving copies of uncial script, by far the largest number prior to the Carolingian Renaissance. For other uses, see number 600. ... The ascenders are the parts of the characters that lie above the midline, highlighted in red. ... The descenders are the parts of the characters that lie below the baseline, highlighted in red. ... Minuscule, or lower case, is the smaller form (case) of letters (in the Roman alphabet: a, b, c, ...). Originally alphabets were written entirely in majuscule (capital) letters which were spaced between well-defined upper and lower bounds. ... Events December 25, Rome, coronation of Charles the Great (Charlemagne) as emperor by Pope Leo III. Celtic monks begin work on the Book of Kells on the Island of Iona. ... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... Sample of Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance. ...

Forms

A sample of the Latin text from the Codex Bezae

In general, there are some common features of uncial script: Download high resolution version (562x768, 124 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (562x768, 124 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A sample of the Greek text from the Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis (Gregory-Aland no. ...

• m, n, and u are relatively broad; m is formed with curved strokes (although a straight first stroke may indicate an early script), and n is written as N to distinguish it from r and s.
• f, i, p, s, t are relatively narrow.
• e is formed with a curved stroke, and its arm (or hasta) does not connect with the top curve; the height of the arm can also indicate the age of the script (written in a high position, the script is probably early, while an arm written closer to the middle of the curve may indicate a later script).
• l has a small base, not extending to the right to connect with the next letter.
• r has a long, curved shoulder, often connecting with the next letter.
• s resembles (and is the ancestor of) the "long s"; in uncial it looks more like r than f.

In later uncial scripts, the letters are sometimes drawn haphazardly; for example, double-l runs together at the baseline, bows (for example in b, p, r) do not entirely curve in to touch their stems, and the script is generally not written as cleanly as previously. The title of this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

National styles

Due to its extremely widespread use, in Byzantine, African, Italian, French, Spanish, and "insular" (English and Irish) centres, there were many slightly different styles in use: Byzantine Empire (Greek: Βυζαντινή Αυτοκρατορία) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004...

• African (i.e. Roman North African) uncial is more angular than other forms of uncial. In particular, the bow of the letter a is particularly sharp and pointed.
• Byzantine uncial has two unique features: "b-d uncial" uses forms of b and d which are closer to half-uncial (see below), and was in use in the 4th and 5th centuries; "b-r" uncial, in use in the 5th and 6th centuries, has a form of b that is twice as large as the other letters, and an r with a bow resting on the baseline and the stem extending below the baseline.
• Italian uncial has round letters (c, e, o, etc) with flatter tops, an a with a sharp bow (as in African uncial), an almost horizontal rather than vertical stem in d, and forked finials (i.e., serifs in some letters such as f, l, t, and s).
• Insular uncial (not to be confused with the separate insular script) generally has definite word separation, and accent marks over stressed syllables, probably because English and Irish scribes did not speak a language descended from Latin. They also use specifically Insular scribal abbreviations not found in other uncial forms, use wedge-shaped finials, connect a slightly subscript "pendant i" with m or h (when at the end of a word), and decorate the script with animals and dots ("Insular dotting", often in groups of three).
• French (that is, Merovingian) uncial uses thin descenders (in g, p, etc), an x with lines that cross higher than the middle, and a d with a curled stem (somewhat resembling an apple), and there are many decorations of fish, trees, and birds.

This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The beginning of the Gospel of Mark from the Book of Durrow. ... Scribal abbreviations were used by medieval scribes writing in Latin. ... For other uses of the term Merovingian, see Merovingian (disambiguation). ...

Origin of the word

Calligraphic writing of the word "Unziale" in a modern uncial hand

There is some doubt about the exact meaning of the word. Uncial itself probably comes from St. Jerome's preface to the Book of Job, where it is found in the form uncialibus, but it is possible that this is a misreading of inicialibus, and Jerome may have been referring to the larger initial letters found at the beginning of paragraphs. If the correct reading is uncialibus, it may mean that the letters occupied one-twelfth of a line of a manuscript, or perhaps that the ink used to write the letters cost an ounce of gold, or that they were decorated with gold and silver that either cost or weighed an ounce. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (803x250, 31 KB) Schriftzug: Unziale, geschrieben in der gleichnamigen Schriftart Description: Calligraphic writing of the word Unziale in an Uncial font. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (803x250, 31 KB) Schriftzug: Unziale, geschrieben in der gleichnamigen Schriftart Description: Calligraphic writing of the word Unziale in an Uncial font. ... For other uses see: Jerome (disambiguation) Jerome (about 340 - September 30, 420), (full name Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The term uncial in the sense of describing this script was first used by Jean Mabillon in the early 18th century. Thereafter his definition was refined by Scipione Maffei, who used to refer to this script as distinct from Roman square capitals. Jean Mabillon (November 23, 1632-December 27, 1707) was a Benedictine monk and scholar, considered the founder of palaeography and diplomatics. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Scipione Maffei (b. ... The Arch of Titus, with an inscription in Roman square capitals Roman square capitals, also called elegant capitals and quadrata, are an ancient Roman form of writing, and the basis for modern capital letters. ...

The technical term for uncial, litterea unciales, translates from Latin as "inch high letters". This may be explained by the fact that there are no miniscules in the alphabet.

Other uses

A portion of the Codex Sinaiticus, in Byzantine uncial, containing Esther 2:3-8.

The word, uncial, is also sometimes used to refer to manuscripts that have been scribed in uncial, especially when differentiating from those which have been penned with minuscule. Some of the most noteworthy Greek uncials are: Download high resolution version (366x768, 86 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (366x768, 86 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A portion of the Codex Sinaiticus, containing Esther 2:3-8. ... The Book of Esther is a book of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and of the Old Testament. ...

• Codex Sinaiticus
• Codex Vaticanus
• Codex Alexandrinus
• Codex Bezae
• Codex Petropolitanus

The Petropolitanus is considered by some to contain optimum uncial style. It is also an example of how large the characters were getting. A portion of the Codex Sinaiticus, containing Esther 2:3-8. ... A section of the Codex Vaticanus, containing 1 Esdras 2:1-8 The Codex Vaticanus (The Vatican, Bibl. ... Folio 65v from the Codex Alexandrinus contains the end of the Gospel of Luke with the decorative tailpiece found at the end of each book. ... A sample of the Greek text from the Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis (Gregory-Aland no. ... New Testament manuscript N (022) from the Sixth Century, written in uncial (majuscule) script with silver ink on purple parchment. ...

For further details on these manuscripts, see Guglielmo Cavallo Ricerche sulla Maiuscola Biblica (Florence, 1967).

Modern calligraphy usually teaches a form of evolved Latin-based uncial hand that would probably be best compared to the later 7th to 10th century examples, though admittedly, the variations in Latin uncial are much wider and less rigid than Greek. Modern uncial has borrowed heavily from some of the conventions found in more cursive scripts, using flourishes, variable width strokes, and on occasion, even center axis tilt. Calligraphy in a Latin Bible of AD 1407 on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... Cursive is any style of handwriting in which all the letters in a word are connected, making a word one single (complicated) stroke. ...

In a way comparable to the continued widespread use of the blackletter typefaces for written German until well into the 20th century, versions of uncial were almost always used for typography in Goidelic languages (most notably Irish and Scottish Gaelic) until approximately the 1950s. The script is still widely used in this way for titles of documents, inscriptions on monuments and other 'official' uses. Blackletter in a Latin Bible of AD 1407, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The Goidelic languages (also sometimes called the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) are one of two major divisions of modern-day Insular Celtic languages (the other being the Brythonic languages). ... Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... The 1950s were the decade that spanned the years 1950 through 1959, although some sources say from 1951 through 1960. ...

Half-uncial or semi-uncial

The term half-uncial or semi-uncial was first used in the mid-18th century by René Prosper Tassin and Charles François Toustain, and despite its common use and understanding, it is not a very accurate name - it is not really derived from regular uncial, but it does look similar and shares many of its features; sometimes, especially when both were developing, the two scripts were used simultaneously in a mixed-uncial script. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... René-Prosper Tassin (born at Lonlay, in the Diocese of Le Mans, in 1697, died at Paris, 1777) was a French historian, belonging to the Benedictine Congregation of Saint-Maur. ... Charles-François Toustain (born at Repas in the diocese of Séez, France, 13 October 1700, died at Saint-Denis, 1 July 1754) was a French historian and Benedictine, member of the Congregation of St-Maur. ...

Like uncial, half-uncial derived from Roman cursive. It was first used around the 3rd century and remained in use until the end of the 8th century. The early forms of half-uncial were used for pagan authors and Roman legal writing, while in the 6th century the script came to be used in Africa and Europe (but not as often in insular centres) to transcribe Christian texts.

Forms

Some general forms of half-uncial letters are:

• a is usually round, sometimes with a slightly open top
• b and d have vertical stems, identical to the modern letters
• g has a flat top, no bow, and a curved descender (somewhat resembling the number 5)
• t has a curved shaft
• n, r, and s are similar to their uncial counterparts (with the same differences compared to modern letters)

Half-uncial was brought to Ireland in the 5th century, and was then carried to England. There, it was used up to the 8th century, and developed into the insular script after the 8th century.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Uncial

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