Dear Ms White,
In addition to the other books that various members of the list have
mentioned (the Bischoff volume, Cappelli, & Boyle in particular), I have
found Michelle P. Brown's _A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from
Antiquity to 1600_ (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990) extremely
useful, since it includes a nice series of 52 plates that show, in
chronological order, specimens of many of the most important styles of book
hand, beginning with square caps and ending with humanistic cursives. It
has another great virtue as well: it is moderately priced! I should also
mention the handy little (52 pp.) translation of the introductory essay
from Cappelli's _Dizionario_ done by David Heimann and Richard Kay, under
the title _The Elements of Abbreviation in Medieval Latin Paleography_
(Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Libraries, 1982), which I believe is
still in print and which is dirt cheap.
JAB
James A. Brundage
History & Law
University of Kansas
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