4. The vertical strokes becoming thinner (d) (with oblique or pointed ends—not square ended) increased the tendency to narrow letters.
It is to be noted that the Caroline letters—though written with a “slanted pen”—kept the open, round appearance of the earlier forms. [p046]
TENTH, ELEVENTH, AND TWELFTH CENTURY WRITING.—The easy use of the slanted pen, and the lateral compression of the letters which naturally followed, resulted in a valuable economy of time and space in the making of books. This lateral compression is strongly marked in the tenth century (see fig. [12]), and in the eleventh and twelfth centuries it caused curves to give place to angles, and writing to become “Gothic” in character (see [Plate XI.]).