Paleography exercise

So, as the manuscript page I examined is copyrighted, I will not post the picture here, but will have it for viewing in class. Following is a brief discussion of the text, as well as my attempted transcription and interesting features of the script.

fol. 15r
Historia Tobiae.
Whole page with initial 'P': Tobias and the Angel.

Attempted transcription

                Salmanlar regis assy uorum in captuiitate samen positus uiamue ntatis non aesacutsita ut Omnia que hatere poterat cotidie concaptiuls fub[us] quierantereius genere impartuer. Exsor(?) eto tomine ut leiunsu lo unproperu huiusab saluas me aut certe ce supterram eripias me. Peterniniscarus telicta mea ud parentum me orumsne uindictam sumas te preis mas ormus sutinentes teon[on?]e. [ ] Omnia iudioatua iu sta sunt [?] omnes we tue mia et ueritas. Et nune teminome[nun]to mei[us?] hece. Cum esset tobias iunior omnibus in tubu neptalims nichil tn[on?] pue cule gessit in opera. Deniq[ue] cum nent omnes ad uitulas aureos[us?] quos iero luam fererat rerir[?]hic solus fugietat consora a omnium [_·t] pgetat ad iertin ad templumorus tibi atorabat onim teuisrl: ex omniiii tempore benedic teuin [_·t] pete ab eo oi tem[x?]re Consilia tua in [yo?] pmaneanit. [?] axemor esto fili qm[um?] paiqein uitam gerimus halrbis mul to bonsai timueriis teuan.

                This document is a Breviary of Chertsy Abby, in Latin (fragments) from 14^th century England, possibly around 1307 or later written in mostly gothic textura quadrata. It is an apocryphal book in the Old Testament

Some of the distinguishing features of the script are:

 split ascenders on letters (usually b, h, k, l and q)

a tailing flick at the end of words

conjoined letter forms, especially as in bo, tr, oe, st, pa, pr, and tu. These are again areas where two adjacent letters that have bows facing one another (be, oc, po) are set close together so as to have bows partially overlap one another, and 2), in order to avoid as far as possible the meeting of bow and straight stroke, the ‘round’ r from the old ligature (or) is also attached to the letters with bows (d,h,p,v,y) creating a half r.

each vertical stroke contains 3 separate strokes resulting in the diamond like features at the top and bottom of the ascenders/descenders.

One peculiarity in this text is the old form of t used in conjunction with the gothic style. Often, especially at the beginning of words, this document favors a more Caroline t with a rounded form.

Typical of the era, ruling marks were clearly visible. This particular folio was separated into four columns (two on the left and two on the right), with additional ruling in each column.

The illumination is also unique, as it employs actual gold leaf. This feature, along with the formal and clear bookhand written in textualis indicates the importance of the work. This text is rather clear, probably due to the fact that it was an English hand writing, but is certainly not entirely uniform. Indicative of the textualis is that nearly every letter rests on and between the ruling lines, and very rarely leaving them (even the descenders are substantially shortened so as to fit within the lines). The shape of the word was more important than the creation of individual letters, resulting in several allographs or conjoined letters.

While I am not familiar with every abbreviation, or could not find a reference to the abbreviations I noticed, the author's use of abbreviations seems to be inconsistent and mostly to make sure he can fit the required words into the provided space, especially where there are illuminated features.

References

Adrianno cappelli, The elements of abbreviation in Medieval Latin Paleography, tr. David Heinnan and Richard Kay (Kansas: University of Kansas Publications, 1982).

Marc Drogin, Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique (New Jersey: Allanheld, Osmun & Co., and Abner Schram Ltd., 1980)

Manuscript borrowed from the  Bodleian university digital collection. (http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/jpegs/lat/liturg/d/042/1500/04200762.jpg)