ANGLO-SAXON ALPHABET.
The Anglo-Saxon alphabet, and the forms and sounds of the letters, are shown in the following table:—
Two useful Anglo-Saxon letters have disappeared from modern English,—namely, Þ or þ th (thin), and Ð or ð th (thine).
The Anglo-Saxon letters which vary from those now used were doubtless mere corruptions of the Roman forms,—viz. the capitals A, C, E, G, H, M, S, and W, and the small letters d, f, g, i, r, s, t, and w. Several marks of abbreviation were used by the Saxons, as ꝥ that, ⁊ and, &c. These were not original members of the alphabet, but were introduced probably for despatch.
About the year 1567, John Daye, who was patronized by Archbishop Parker, cut the first Saxon types which were used in England. In this year, Asserius Menevensis was published by the direction of the archbishop in these characters; in the same year, Archbishop Ælfric’s Paschal Homily; and in 1571, the Saxon Gospels.
On the two following pages will be found a plan of cases for Saxon types.
