The large “ILLUMINATED INITIALS” in the book are in yellow, blue, and red, and appear to me to be comparatively poor, at least, to fall short of the perfection of the MS.
Of this writing, Sir Edward Maunde Thompson (“Greek and Latin Palæography,” pp. [271]–[2]) says:—
“The sense of grace of form which we perceive in the Lombardic writing of Italy is maintained in that country in the later writing of the new minuscule type, which assumes under the pens of the most expert Italian scribes a very beautiful and round even style. This style, though peculiarly Italian, extended [p419] its influence abroad, especially to the south of France, and became the model of Spanish writing at a later time. We select a specimen from a very handsome MS. of Homilies of the first half of the 12th century (Pal. Soc. ii. pl. 55), written in bold letters of the best type, to which we shall find the scribes of the fifteenth century reverting in order to obtain a model for their MSS. of the Renaissance. The exactness with which the writing is here executed is truly marvellous, and was only rivalled, not surpassed, by the finished handiwork of its later imitators.
“It will of course be understood that this was not the only style of hand that prevailed in Italy. Others of a much rougher cast were also employed. But as a typical book-hand, which was the parent of the hands in which the greater proportion of carefully written MSS. of succeeding periods were written in Italy, it is to be specially noticed.”
(P. [284])—“we give a specimen of a hand of the Italian Renaissance, a revival of the style of the eleventh or twelfth century, and a very successful imitation of a MS. of that period. It was this practice, followed by the scribes of the Renaissance, of reverting to that fine period of Italian writing (see p. [272]) to find models for the exquisitely finished MSS. which they were compelled to produce in order to satisfy the refined taste of their day, that influenced the early printers of Italy in the choice of their form of type.”[131]
(P. [285])—“in the comparatively small number of extant literary MSS. of a later date than the close of the [fifteenth] century it is noticeable that a large proportion of them are written in the style of the book-hand of the Italian Renaissance—the style which eventually superseded all others in the printing press. The scribes of these late examples only followed the taste of the day in preferring those clear and simple characters to the rough letters of the native hands.”
[131] The specimen hand given is of date 1466. [Plate XVIII.] may here be taken as an example of the Renaissance revival; [Plate XX.] and fig. [175] as examples of later MSS.
[PLATE XI.]—English (late) Twelfth-century Writing, with flourished Capitals. (Breviary). Brit. Mus., Royal MS. 2. A. x.
(Shown in Brit. Mus., Department of MSS., Case D, No. 111.)
THE VOLUME—sometimes called the St. Albans or Albanus Psalter—contains 200 leaves (678 inches by [p420] 478 inches); twenty-seven lines to the page, some pages have two columns. MARGINS, approximately, Inner 58 inch, Head under 12 inch (see Plate), Side 114 inch (part occupied by Versals), Foot 118 inch.