Handwriting, like every other art, has its different phases of growth, perfection, and decay. A particular form of writing is gradually developed, then takes a finished or calligraphic style and becomes the hand of its period, then deteriorates, breaks up, and disappears, or only drags on an artificial existence, being meanwhile superseded by another style which, either developed from the older hand or introduced independently, runs the same course, and, in its turn, is displaced by a younger rival. Thus in the history of Greek writing we see the uncial hand passing from early forms into the calligraphic stage, and then driven out by the minuscule, which again goes through a series of important changes. In Latin, the capital and uncial hands give place to the smaller character; and this, after running its course, deteriorates and is superseded almost universally by the modern Italian hand dating from the Renaissance.

Bearing in mind these natural changes, it is evident that a style of writing, once developed, is best at the period when it is in general use, and that the oldest examples of that period are the simplest, in which vigour and naturalness of handwriting are predominant. On the other hand, the fine execution of a MS. after the best period of the style has passed cannot conceal deterioration. The imitative nature of the calligraphy is detected both by the general impression on the eye and by uncertainty and inconsistencies in the forms of letters. It is from a failure to keep in mind the natural laws of development and change that early dates, to which they have no title, have been given to imitative MSS.; and on the other hand, even very ancient examples have been post-dated in an incredible manner.

Down to the time of the introduction of printing, writing ran in two lines—the set book-hand and the cursive. MSS. written in the set book-hand filled the place now occupied by printed books, the writing being regular, the lines kept even by ruling, and the pages provided with regular margins. Cursive writing, in which the letters employed were fundamentally the same as in the set hand, was necessary for the ordinary business of life. The set book-hand disappeared before the printing press; cursive writing necessarily remains.

Materials.— Before passing to the discussion of Greek and Latin handwriting, the materials employed and the forms which they took may be briefly noticed. The various works on palaeography enumerate the different substances which have been put in requisition to receive writing. Metals, such as gold, bronze, lead, tin, have been used; leaden plates, for example, in addition to those which have been found buried with the dead and bearing inscriptions of various kinds, were also used in the Venetian states down to the 14th or 15 th century as a material on which to inscribe historical and diplomatic records. The ancient Assyrians recorded their hi⅛tory on sun-dried or fire-burnt bricks; and inscribed potsherds or ostraka have been gathered in hundreds in the sands of Egypt. Such hard materials as these, however, would have no extensive use where more pliant and convenient substances, such as animal skin or vegetable growths, could be had. We have therefore practically to confine our attention to such materials as papyrus, vellum, and paper, the use of which became so universally established. But midway between the hard and soft substances, and partaking of the nature of both, stand the waxen tablets made of wood coated with wax, on which the writing was scratched with the point of the stilus or graphium. These tablets were called by the Greeks δελτoς, δeλτιov OΓ δeλτiδιov, τrτυκτtoι∕ OΓ τrυκτιoιz, τrivα^, τrιvaκις, &C., and in Latin tabulee or tabellae, or cerae ∙, and two or more, put together and connected with rings or other fastenings which served as hinges, formed a caudex or codex. A codex of two leaves was called δίθυροι or δiπτυχa, diptycha ; of three, τpi7rτυχα, triptycha; and so on. From the early specimens which have survived, and which will be examined below, the triptycha appear to have been most commonly used. The tablets served for the ordinary affairs of life, for accounts, letters, drafts, school exercises, &c. The various references to them by classical writers need not be here repeated; but their survival to a late time should be noted. St Augustine refers to his tablets, and St Hilary of Arles also mentions their use for the purpose of correspondence; and there remains the record of a letter written in tabella as late as 1148 a.d. (Wattenbach, Schriftwesen, 2d ed., p. 46). They were very commonly used through the Middle Ages in all the west of Europe. Specimens inscribed with money accounts of the 13th and 14th centuries have survived in France; and similar documents of the 14th and 15th centuries are to to be found in several of the municipal archives of Germany. Reference to their use in England occurs in literature; and specimens of the 14th or 15th century have been dug up in Ireland. Similarly in Italy their use is both recorded and proved by actual examples of the 13th or 14th century. With the beginning of the 16th century their general employment seems to have come to an end; but a few survivals of this custom of writing on wax have lingered on to modem times. It is said that sales in the fish-market of Rouen are still noted down on this material.

Among the Romans ivory was sometimes substituted for wood in the waxen tablets, as appears from passages in classical authors. The large consular diptychs are examples of the custom. The rich carvings with which these were embellished have secured their preservation in several instances; and they were often kept in the churches in the Middle Ages and inscribed with lists of bishops or abbots and benefactors.

The employment of Papyrus (q.v.) as an ordinary writing material in ancient Egypt, and, exported from thence, in Greece and Italy, is well known. The most ancient examples of Greek writing which will have to engage our attention are those which are found in the papyrus rolls of Egypt of the 2d century b.c. Though superseded in course of time by vellum, this material continued to be used by Greek scribes down to the 9th century. The earliest Latin writing on papyrus is contained in some fragments recovered at Herculaneum. Dating from the 5th to the 10th century are the papyrus deeds of Ravenna; and papal documents on the same substance extend from the 8th to the 11th century. Papyrus was also used for documents in France under the Merovingian kings. It was also made up into books, for the reception of literary works, in which form it was sometimes strengthened by the addition of vellum leaves which encased the quires; and, as far as can be ascertained from extant remains, it was used thus in Italy and France down to the 10th century.

Skins of animals have doubtless served as a writing material from the very earliest period of the use of letters. Instances of the use of leather in western Asia are recorded by ancient writers; and from Herodotus we learn that the Ionians applied to the later-imported papyrus the name δiφθεpaι, by which they already designated their writing material of leather. The Jews also have retained the ancient Eastern custom, and still inscribe the law upon leathern rolls. The use of parchment (περγαμηνή, charta pergamena} may be considered a revival of the ancient use of skins, now prepared by a new method attributed to Eumenes II., king of Pergamum (197-158 b.c. ), who was opposed by the jealousy of the Ptolemies in his endeavours to establish a library in his capital. They forbade the export of papyrus, and so compelled him to revert to the ancient custom. The new material was prepared in such a way as to be fit to receive writing on both sides, and could thus be conveniently made up into book-form, the σωμάτων. The ancient name δcφθεpaι (Lat., membranae) was also transferred to the new invention. By common consent the name of parchment has in modern times given place to that of vellum, a term properly applicable only to calf-skin, but now generally used to describe a mediaeval skin-book of any kind. Parchment is a title now usually reserved for the hard sheep-skin or other skin material on which law-deeds are engrossed.

Purple-stained vellum was used by the Romans for wrappers for their papyrus rolls. In the 3d century it is recorded that entire volumes were made of this ornamental substance and written in gold or silver; and it was against luxury of this kind that St Jerome directed his often-quoted words in his preface to the book of Job. Examples of such costly MSS. of the 6th centuiy have survived to the present day, as the Codex Argenteus of the Gothic Gospels at Upsala, the fragments of the illustrated Genesis at Vienna, the leaves of the purple Gospels in the Cottonian Library and elsewhere, the Codex Rossanensis, lately discovered, and some others. Some richly stained leaves of the 8th century remain in the Canterbury Gospels (Royal MS., 1 E. vi.) in the British Museum. On the Continent the great impetus given to the production of splendid MSS. under the rule of Charlemagne revived the art of staining; and several fine examples of it exist in MSS. of the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries. At a later period, when the art was forgotten, the surface only of the vellum was painted in imitation of the older staining which soaked into the substance of the skin. Other colours besides purple were sometimes employed, particularly in the period of the Renaissance, to paint or stain vellum; but MSS. so treated are rather to be regarded as curiosities produced by the caprice of the moment.

Cotton paper (charta bombycina) is said to have been known to the Chinese at a remote period, and to have passed into use among the Arabs early in the 8th century. It was imported into Constantinople, and was used for Greek MSS. in the 13th century. In Italy and the West it never made much way. Rag paper came into general use in Europe in the 14th century, and gradually displaced vellum. In the 15th century MSS. of vellum and paper mixed were common. See Paper.

With regard to the forms in which writing material was made up, the waxen tablets have already been referred to, and will be more minutely described below. Ancient papyri usually appear in the form of rolls; vellum was made up into books. The roll (κύλινδρος, volumen ; later, ειλητάρων, είλητόν, εξεlλημa, rotulus) was the ordinary form of written documents known to the ancients. When a work was contained in several rolls, a single roll was called βίβλος, βιβλiov, volumen, charta·, later, τόμος. From the circumstance of the Bible filling many rolls it acquired such titles as pandectes and bibliotheca, the latter of which remained in use down to the 14th century. The title of the work was written at the end of the roll; and at the same place was recorded the number of columns and lines, στίχοι, which it contained—probably for the purpose of estimating the price. To roll and unroll was eiλ∈7v and εξεtλειv, plicare and explicare ; the work unrolled and read to the end was the liber explicitus. Hence comes the common explicit written at the end of a work; and, from the analogy of incipit liber in titles, the word was afterwards taken for a verb, and appears in such phrases as explicit liber, explicit, expliceat, &c.

The book-form was adopted from the waxen tablets, and the name caudex or codex was also taken over. It has been inferred, from the terms in which Martial speaks of vellum books, that they were articles of luxury at Rome; and, although no examples have survived from classical times, and none were found in the ruins of Herculaneum, the sumptuousness of the earliest extant volumes supports this view. The shape in which they are made up during the early centuries of the Middle Ages is the broad quarto.

The quires or gatherings of which the book was formed generally consisted, in the earliest examples, of four sheets folded to make eight leaves (τετράς or τετράδων, quatemio), although occasionally quinterns, or quires of five sheets (ten leaves), were adopted. Sexterns, or quires of six sheets (twelve leaves), came into use at a later period. The quire-mark, or “signature,” was usually written at the foot of the last page, but in some early instances (e.g., the Codex Alexandrinus) it appears at the head of the first page. The numbering of the separate leaves in a quire, in the fashion followed by early printers, came in in the 14th century. Catch-words to connect the quires date back to the 12th century.

No exact system was followed in ruling the lines and in arranging the sheets when ruled. In the case of papyri it was enough to mark with the pencil the vertical marginal lines to bound the text; the grain of the papyrus was a sufficient guide for the lines of writing. With the firmer material of vellum it became necessary to rule lines to keep the writing even. These lines were at first drawn with a hard, point, almost invariably on the hair (or outer) side of the skin, and strongly enough to be in relief on the flesh (or inner) side. Marginal lines were drawn to bound the text laterally; but the ruled lines which guided the writing were not infrequently drawn right across the sheet. Each sheet should be ruled separately; but two or more sheets were often laid and ruled together, the lines being drawn with so much force that the lower sheets also received the impressions. In rare instances lines are found ruled on both sides of the leaf, as in some parts of the Codex Alexandrinus. In this same MS. and in other early codices the ruling was not always drawn for every line of writing, but was occasionally spaced so that the writing ran between the ruled lines as well as on them. In making up the quires, care was generally taken to lay the sheets in such a way that hair-side faced hair-side, and flesh-side faced flesh-side; so that, when the book was opened, the two pages before the reader had the same appearance, either the yellow tinge of the hair-side, or the fresh whiteness of the flesh-side. In Greek MSS. the arrangement of the sheets was afterwards reduced to a system: the first sheet was laid with the flesh-side downwards, so that that side began the quire; yet in so early an example as the Codex Alexandrinus the first page of a quire is the hair-side. In Latin MSS. also the hair-side appears generally to have formed the first page. Ruling with the plummet or lead-point came into ordinary use in the 12th century; red and violet inks were used for ornamental ruling in the 15 th century. The lines were evenly spaced by means of prickings in the margins; in some early MSS. these prickings run down the middle of the page.

Inks of various colours were employed from early times. Red is found in initial lines, titles, and colophons in the earliest vellum MSS. For purposes of contrast it was also used in glosses, as in the Lindisfarne Gospels and in the Durham Ritual. In the Carlovingian period entire volumes were occasionally written with this ink. Other coloured inks—green, violet, and yellow—are also found at an early date. Writing in gold and silver was inscribed on purple vellum in ancient MSS., as has been noted above; under Charlemagne it again came into fashion. Gold was then applied to the writing of ordinary vellum MSS. It was also introduced into English MSS. in the 10th century.

With regard to writing implements, it will be here enough to note that for writing on waxen tablets the pointed stilus or graphium was used; that the reed (κάλαμος, calamus or canna) was adapted for both papyrus and vellum, and that in Italy at least it appears to have been used as late as the 15th century; and that the quill pen can be traced back to the 6th century of our era.

Greek Writing.

The period which has to be traversed in following the history of Greek palaeography begins with the 2d century b.c. and ends at the close of the 15th century. For all this long period the subject is illustrated by a fair amount of material, more or less connected in chronological sequence. Greek writing in MSS., as far as we know it from extant remains, passed through two courses,—that of the uncial or large letter, and that of the minuscule or small letter. The period of the uncial runs from the date of the earliest specimens on papyrus to the 9th century, that of the minuscule from the 9th century to the invention of printing. An established form of writing, however, cannot, any more than any other human habit, be suddenly abandoned for a new one; and we are therefore prepared to find the uncial character continue to be used after the first introduction of the smaller hand. It did in fact survive for special purposes for some three centuries after it had ceased to be the common form of book-writing. Inversely, no fully developed handwriting suddenly springs into existence; and we therefore look for the first beginnings of the minuscule hand in documents of far higher antiquity than those of the 9th century.

Uncial.— The term uncial has been borrowed from the nomenclature of Latin palaeography and applied to Greek writing of the larger type to distinguish it from the minuscule or smaller character. In Latin majuscule writing there exist both capitals and uncials, each class distinct. In Greek MSS. pure capital letter-writing was never employed (except occasionally for ornamental titles at a late time). As distinguished from the square capitals of inscriptions, the uncial writing has certain rounded letters, as ∈, C, CO, modifications in others, and some extending above or below the line.

Uncial Greek writing in early times is found in two forms,—the set and the cursive. In examining the set or, as it may be termed, the literary hand, we find that regard must be had to the material on which it was written. For the material has always had more or less influence on the character of the writing. To the substitution of a soft surface for a hard one, of the pen for the graving tool, we undoubtedly owe the rounded forms of the uncial letters. The square-formed capitals were more easily cut on stone or metal; the round letters more readily traced on skin or wax or papyrus with stile, reed, or pen. Again, the earliest specimens of Greek uncials are found on papyrus; and this delicate and brittle material naturally required a light style of penmanship. When the firmer material of vellum came into use, there followed a change in the style of writing, which assumed the calligraphic form, which will be considered in its place.

The earliest examples of Greek uncial writing are on papyrus,...

In 1829 Palacky was appointed public historiographer by the Bohemian states, and made several lengthened tours to consult documents in public libraries at Munich, Berlin, Dresden, Rome, and elsewhere. He then commenced his History of the Bohemian People, which has earned him the undying gratitude of his countrymen. The first volume appeared in German in 1836, but the work was carried on in the Bohemian language from 1848, and was concluded with the year 1526, the period when Ferdinand I. ascended the throne and the political independence of the Czechs ceased. Besides this Palacky obtained a prize from the Bohemian Society of Arts for his work entitled Würdigung der alten böhmischen Geschichtschreiber. In the year 1840 he published, in conjunction with Schafarik, Die ältesten Denkmäler der Böhmischen Sprache. In this he appears as the champion of the early Bohemian manuscripts, the authenticity of which has been so much disputed, adopting among others the glosses in the Mater Verborum in the library at Prague, which have been proved to be forgeries. In the troubled year 1848 Palacky, a man of the student type, was forced into political life, but acquitted himself well. He refused to take a seat in the German parliament at Frankfort when invited to do so, on the ground that as a Czech he had nothing to do with German affairs. It was on this occasion that he uttered the memorable sentiment that so essential was Austria to the interests of Europe that, if such an empire had not existed, it would have been necessary to create one—words which were afterwards used by Jellachich as the device on his flag. Before his death, however, Palacky had changed his opinion, and despaired of any help coming from such a source. Thus in a series of articles which he published in his old age under the title Radhost, he tells us—“I have thought all my life that the right would prevail, and my mistake has been in believing in the good sense and spirit of justice of the German people.”

Sb great was the influence of Palacky at this period that he was offered a portfolio in the ministry of Pillersdorf; but in a short time the confidence placed in him by the Austrian Government was withdrawn, and he was regarded with suspicion. He soon, however, quitted politics and betook himself to his literary labours. His influence among his countrymen was now at its height. In 1860 he had the misfortune to lose his wife, whom he had married in 1827. In 1861 he was made a life member of the Austrian senate. He died in 1876, busy with literature to the end.

The great work of Palacky, his History of the Bohemian People, is indeed a monument of conscientious labour. His love of truth and marvellous accuracy are conspicuous on every page. To enable the Bohemians to resist the insidious attempts at their denationalization which had been steadily pursued by their enemies during the 17th and 18th centuries, it was necessary to bring before them the great past which they had been taught to forget. This Palacky has done, and his work has become a national monument. The occupation of the last years of his life was the rewriting of some of the chapters, which had seemed to him imperfectly executed, owing to the want of original documents or the censorship of the Austrian Government. In 1845 the first part of his third volume appeared, dealing with the life and religious opinions of Huss. As the work was published, it had already undergone serious mutilation at the hands of the appointed censors, but the Bohemians saw the history of Huss presented to them in its true colours; and so great was the sensation created that a Roman Catholic publicist named Helfert was commissioned to write an account of Huss and Jerome, his disciple, with the view of counteracting the effects of Palacky’s work. This book duly appeared at Prague in 1857. Palacky, however, must be considered to have triumphed in the controversy. He published two other polemical works on the same subject in German: in 1868 appeared Die Geschichte des Hussiten-thums und Prof. C. Höfler, and in 1871 another work entitled Zur Böhmischen Geschichtschreibung. Besides the interesting portion of his work dealing with Huss and the subsequent Hussite wars, Palacky appears to great advantage when dwelling upon the most prosperous periods of Bohemian nationality, as the reigns of Charles IV. and George Podébrad. No pains were spared by him in his researches. Dr Kalousek tells us in his interesting memoir that, when he visited Rome in 1837 to consult the library of the Vatican, he read through 45,000 documents in ten weeks and copied 400 of them with his own hand. The work is a monument of erudition; but it may perhaps be said to be written in a somewhat dry and frigid style. It has become familiar to general readers in a German translation. Palacky also founded an historical school in Bohemia, foremost among his pupils being Vaclav Tomek and Antonin Gindely.

After his recovery Palafox was sent into France and closely confined at Vincennes, but was liberated on the restoration of Ferdinand. In June 1814 he was confirmed in the office of captain-general of Aragon, but soon afterwards withdrew from it, and, having indeed no real aptitude for them, ceased to take part in public affairs. He received the title of duke of Saragossa in 1824, and died at Madrid on February 15, 1847.