Littera humanistica

In stead of using the barbarous 'gothic' script, the northern Italian humanists of the late 14th and early 15th centuries turned back to late caroline minuscule for their models. They considered the ripened script of the 10th-12th centuries best sueted for their purposes and imitated it meticulously in writing they called 'litterae antiquae'. Since this revived script spreaded accross the Alps, especially representing the works of classical authors, texts concerning the artes, and historiography.

Two kinds of humanistic scripts can be discerned: a minuscule and a cursive, littera humanistica textualis and littera humanistica cursiva.

Literature

• Berthold Louis Ullman, The origin and development of humanistic script. Rome 1960.
• James Wardrop, The script of humanism. Some aspects of humanistic script, 1460-1560. Oxford 1963.

Sample

• The Hague, KB : ms. 71 J 69, f. 2v; Egmond, 1543 (littera humanistica textualis)

[...]

in hac vita delere te donan-

te valeam; quatinus post hanc

vitam cum ante conspectum

diuinæ maiestatis tuæ præ-

sentatus fuero; te sine con-

fusione & absque oppro-

brio inimicorum meorum vide-

re; & ante te lætus & secu-

rus venire merear. Amen.

Ne reminiscaris Domine. &c.

[...]

Sample

• The Hague, KB : ms. 73 E 22, f. 23v; Padua (?), 1498 (littera humanistica cursiva)

[...]

apostolus iubet exhiberi christo uiduam. Isto

sancta humilis & quieta misericordiae &

iustitiæ opera indesinentes semper exerce: &

quisquis te in opprobrium habeat quisquis

te subsannet & irrideat. Tu tantum Deo pla

ceas & quæ christi sunt geras. Ante omnia

incessabiliter Domini tui meditare mandata.

Orationibus & Psalmis instanter incumbe.

Vt si possibile est nemo te aliquando nisi

aut legentem inueniat aut orantem. Pre

[...]