ARRANGEMENT.—Long and short lines: wide spacing. [p414]
THE LETTERS combine extreme gracefulness with an unusual appearance of strength. This is mainly due to the ends of all the strokes being finished; the thick strokes have large, triangular heads (p. [327]) on the left, and bases broadened by an additional stroke below on the right (thus
). And the horizontal thin strokes are either finished with a triangular terminal (p. [246]), or run on into the next letter—joining the letters together.
The extreme roundness of the letters is contributed to by their being written between DOUBLE LINES (pp. [304], [88]), the upper line of which tends to flatten the tops.
The pen not being quite “straight” (see footnote, p. [304]), together with a tendency to pull the left hand curves, gives a characteristic shape to the letters
THE ILLUMINATION throughout the book is most elaborate and beautiful. Each division has an entire Initial page occupied with the first few letters. The COLOURS were “paled green, red, violet, and yellow, intense black, and white, but no gold”: see description of Celtic MSS., p. [40], Bradley’s “Illuminated Letters and Borders,” and also the Palæographical Society’s 1st Series, Vol. II., Pl. 55–58, 88, 89.
This notable book may be taken as an example of the marvellous possibilities of pen-work and complex colour-work (see p. [216]).