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BLACKLETTER   ROUNDHAND   ITALIC   UNCIAL

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The ITALIC hand was developed during the Renaissance in Italy in the 15th & 16th centuries (hence its name). Used for Papal documents it derived from the Carolingian hand as a more cursive form of lettering and is speedier to write. It was used as a form of handwriting and in wood engravings and is characterised by being more flourished than the Roman and Carolingian hands. The letterstrokes appear parallel, even when one is slightly curved, and the letters are evenly spaced. The lowercase letters are based around the letter 'a' and the capitals are based on a compressed 'O'.

 

The eye tends to read the top 1/3 of letters in a line of writing and this is emphasised in Italic. Try it for yourself - cover the bottom 2/3 of a line of writing, whether printed text in a book or your own handwriting, and try reading it. You may not make out all of the letters but you will be able to guess at what is missing, enough to make the text legible. Now cover the top part of the line and try reading it again. Almost illegible isn't it?

 

 

 

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