How do I Begin Learning Insular Minuscule?

[Conservative Eccentric]

Please forgive my ignorance; I have never learned a writing style before so am completely new to the process.  I wish to begin learning Insular Minuscule; is there a particular book people would recommend?  Online tutorials?  Am I limited to my own attempts at copying manuscript examples without really knowing what I am doing?  Do I need to narrow down the exact style of Insular Minuscule I want first, as I imagine they can vary quite a bit? (I have attached images of some of my favourite examples that I have come across thus far, if that would help steer me in the right direction.)

 

I have received great advice about pens, nibs, inks, and paper on the forum, but would there be any further considerations to take into account in relation to Insular Minuscule script?

 

Also, though this is completely outside the realm of penmanship and calligraphy, where could I find good Insular Minuscule fonts for use in Microsoft Word?

 

[txomsy]

I suppose you refer to the minuscule used in the Book of Kells and alike.

 

If you are into medieval scripts, then Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique could be a great place to start.

[Conservative Eccentric]

I believe the Book of Kells is largely Insular Majuscule, not Insular Minuscule (though that third example of mine is actually from the Book of Kells - though I think I prefer the style of the other two); my other two examples are from The Annals of the Four Masters (a compilation of mediaeval Irish annals published in the 1600s) and the St. Gall Priscian Glosses (Old Irish and Latin from roughly 845 AD).  

 

Thank you very much, I will see about getting my hands on that book.

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Conservative Eccentric

[Conservative Eccentric]

Here is another example from the Annals of the Four Masters for reference of the sort of style I am looking for:

  

Edited February 24, 2023 by Conservative Eccentric

[Mercian]

3 hours ago, Conservative Eccentric said:

…where could I find good Insular Minuscule fonts for use in Microsoft Word?

This will depend on how totally-authentic you want them to look, and also on whether or not you are willing to pay for them, or want to find fonts that are free to download and use for personal (as opposed to business) use.

 

If you search for ‘Insular majuscule font’ and ‘insular minuscule font’ you ought to be able to find some examples.

E.g. I think that there used to be a free font called ‘Insula’ (or maybe ‘Insular’), but it was an ‘Irished’ version of modern Latin letterforms, rather than having authentic ‘Insular’ letterforms.

 

One potential obstacle to finding such fonts is that Insular scripts - like mediæval ‘Secretary Hand’ - had different forms for the same letter, depending upon which part of a word it appeared in, and the different ligatures that it formed with other letters.

[Mercian]

Oh, also, it may help you to know what abbreviations were common in old manuscripts, and how they were conveyed.

One place to start may be https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/where_to_start.htm although it is about English scripts, rather than Gaelic ones.

[Conservative Eccentric]

5 minutes ago, Mercian said:

This will depend on how totally-authentic you want them to loo, and also on whether or not you are willing to pay for them, or want to find fonts that are free to download and use for personal (as opposed to business) use.

 

If you search for ‘Insular majuscule font’ and ‘insular minuscule font’ you ought to be able to find some examples.

E.g. I think that there used to be a free font called ‘Insula’ (or maybe ‘Insular’), but it was an ‘Irished’ version of modern Latin letterforms, rather than having authentic ‘Insular’ letterforms.

 

I would not mind paying for them if they are better than ones I can get for free (my search came up mostly with rather modern and whimsical-looking interpretations).

 

5 minutes ago, Mercian said:

One potential obstacle to finding such fonts is that Insular scripts - like mediæval ‘Secretary Hand’ - had different forms for the same letter, depending upon which part of a word it appeared in, and the different ligatures that it formed with other letters.

 

Ah, I did not think of that.

[ParramattaPaul]

55 minutes ago, Conservative Eccentric said:

I believe the Book of Kells is largely Insular Majuscule, not Insular Minuscule (though that third example of mine is actually from the Book of Kells - though I think I prefer the style of the other two); my other two examples are from The Annals of the Four Masters (a compilation of mediaeval Irish annals published in the 1600s) and the St. Gall Priscian Glosses (Old Irish and Latin from roughly 845 AD).  

 

Thank you very much, I will see about getting my hands on that book.

 

Have you consulted with anyone in the history department at Trinity?

[Conservative Eccentric]

3 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Oh, also, it may help you to know what abbreviations were common in old manuscripts, and how they were conveyed.

One place to start may be https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/where_to_start.htm although it is about English scripts, rather than Gaelic ones.

 

Thank you; that will be a great help.  Heh, well, I completely flunked Irish in school (another failed school subject besides my handwriting that I still actually do want to learn), so I will definitely need to begin in English anyway.

[Conservative Eccentric]

2 minutes ago, ParramattaPaul said:

Have you consulted with anyone in the history department at Trinity?

 

No, it never even occurred to me, but I am sure they have better things to do with their time than indulge some random school dropout who knows basically nothing and just wishes to learn it as a hobby for personal enjoyment.

[ParramattaPaul]

37 minutes ago, Conservative Eccentric said:

 

No, it never even occurred to me, but I am sure they have better things to do with their time than indulge some random school dropout who knows basically nothing and just wishes to learn it as a hobby for personal enjoyment.

In actuality they probably don't have better things to do, and would appreciate the question, answering it and possibly using it as a research topic.  There may well be an under-graduate or graduate student looking for just what you are looking for as well.

[Conservative Eccentric]

Interesting; I might actually look into asking then.

[Mercian]

1 hour ago, ParramattaPaul said:

Have you consulted with anyone in the history department at Trinity?

I second this recommendation. And think that you might get traction from the Schools of English/Gaelic too.

 

Ok, helping you is, strictly speaking, ‘not their day-job’, but these are people who have an interest in Paleography and, as @ParramattaPaul said, contact with you may even actually help with/further some of their own ‘legitimate’ Research projects.

 

Even if it doesn’t, sending emails to/using the Contact forms on the relevant websites of the several universities in Dublin won’t even cost you anything.

[inkstainedruth]

6 hours ago, txomsy said:

I suppose you refer to the minuscule used in the Book of Kells and alike.

 

If you are into medieval scripts, then Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique could be a great place to start.

An excellent suggestion!  

Many years ago a friend of mine and I went to a talk he gave somewhere near where I used to live (I was still living with my parents at that point, so, pushing nearly four decades ), and I ended up buying a copy of that book (which is autographed ) and recently I picked up another book by him that I got from Dover Publications: Calligraphy of the Middle Ages and How to Do It.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[txomsy]

13 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Calligraphy of the Middle Ages and How to Do It.

Didn't know of that one. How does it compare to the former? I own Medieval Calligraphy and like it a lot, so would like to know if this one has more to offer.

 

BTW, to the OP, another option to get started may be Celtic Hand Stroke by Stroke (Irish Half-Uncial from "The Book of Kells"): An Arthur Baker Calligraphy Manual

[inkstainedruth]

It's not as comprehensive, but as a Dover Book it's relatively inexpensive compared to his first book (which I have in hardcover, although I gather it's also available in paperback now).  Apparently the second book was originally published as Yours Truly, King Arthur.

I'd say the Dover one is a good beginner book (or maybe more for kids) and his first book is perhaps more of an intermediate level, since it has more hands to learn.  

Apparently, Marc Drogin did (was doing) another book as well, called The Medieval Scribe.  In the Dover book it's listed as being "forthcoming" but I don't know if that means "more recent" than 1998, when the Dover edition came out, or when the original edition was published in 1982.  Or if it ever came out at all, since apparently he died in 2017.   And I'm not finding it listed on Amazon, either.  (Our local/regional library system only has the second one listed in their system -- I just checked).  

Also just checked a couple of the book search sites like Alibris, and he's got some OTHER book called Biblioclasm: the mythical origins, magic powers, and perishability of the written word -- but I can't find much information about what that one is actually about.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ParramattaPaul]

On 2/24/2023 at 10:36 AM, Conservative Eccentric said:

Interesting; I might actually look into asking then.

Be sure to keep us posted on how you go.

[txomsy]

Thanks @inkstainedruth for the very useful info. I have added it to my wish list, after all, Dover editions have always been budget-friendly.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, sadly, I know the reasons why.  It's not JUST because they are reprinting stuff where the copyright has expired.... 

I applied for a job at Dover Publications when I got out of college, and layout/pasteup jobs were barely paying minimum wage.  And they were in the bottom end of Manhattan at the time (early 1980s) so I would have had to get dropped off at the commuter bus on the other side of town (an hour north of NYC) and then take the subway from Midtown.  Then, if for some reason things were late, and I missed the last commuter bus home, I'd have to take the subway across town from the Port Authority to Grand Central Station and have my mom or dad pick me up at the end of the commuter rail line in Croton-on-Hudson, about 40 minutes or so away from my parents' house.

For that piddling amount of pay, I went to work at the local "Pennysaver", where I'd worked a couple of summers in college -- and which was about 5 miles away, in the next town over -- while I looked for something better....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[txomsy]

Thank you Ruth for the details. I thought it was due to mass production of student books. I'll save up any additional comments to avoid infringing on FPN policies, but this would do for an entertaining discussion.