Acquiring Grouping: Uncials have no coupling-strokes; when
a Formal several are used together, they are not joined, but

Hand: evenly grouped, allowing as before for curves and

(3) Models straight strokes (see p. 43).

Spacing: (a) When used with Script I, Uncials are
written on the same lines, and have
to follow the same spacing (in spite
of their longer stems).

(b) When Uncials are used by themselves,
their spacing may be wider (p. 261).

Note.—The height of Uncial о is about equal to
the height of the Half-Uncial à.

NUMERALS & PUNCTUATION MARKS
(See fig. 57.)

These are best made with a “ slanted ” pen (fig. 9).

When writing “Arabic numerals,” 1 and о may
be made on the line, 2468 ascending, and 3579
descending.

OF COPYING MSS. GENERALLY

When copying a MS. it is best to choose a
complete page—or part of a page—to be copied in
facsimile.

Two or three lines are copied to begin with;
then the composition of the individual letters and
words is studied by means of a large pen ; and finally
the whole page is copied in facsimile. (Of practising
seePP-51, 52.)

Make a general examination and analysis as sug¬
gested at p. 37. Accurate measurements will be
found helpful.

. Take the heights of the 0 and the d, and the
distance apart of the writing-lines with dividers.

48

The width of the thick stroke is best found by
making experimental thick strokes—the full width
of the pen nib—on a scrap of paper: cut the paper
in half across the thick strokes, and place the cut
edge on the thickest strokes in the original MS., you
will then find whether the pen nib should be cut
wider or narrower.

The direction of the thickest strokes is approxi¬
mately at right angles to the direction of the thin
strokes ; which commonly approaches the horizontal
in early round hands, and is oblique in other hands
(see figs. 9 and 10). The positions both of these

strokes in the model, and of your pen, determine the

angle of the nib. Therefore, cut the nib across at such
an angle to the shaft of the pen that, when you hold the
pen naturally, the direction of the thin strokes which it
makes on the writing paper will coincide with the direc¬
tion of the thin strokes in the model; but

(a) The way in which the shaft is held,

(b) The angle at which the nib is cut,

(c) The position of the writing paper,

may all be slightly varied, so that the direction of the
thin strokes can be followed exactly (see p. 32).

The writing paper is cut and ruled exactly in
accordance with the model ; and the heights of the
letters and the widths of the thick strokes in the copy
agree as nearly as possible with those in the original.
It is therefore a good test for accuracy—when a few
lines of writing have been copied—to measure and
compare their lengths. If they correspond with their
originals, it goes far to prove the copy a good one.

Before copying more of the page, the construc¬
tion of the letters should be carefully studied. The
number and the forms of pen-strokes in each letter

Acquiring
a Formal
Hand:
(3) Models

49