Anglo-Saxon Type

Several books so far have contained passages in so-called "Anglo-Saxon" or "Saxon" type, that is, type designed to imitate the handwriting of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. Despite appearances, text in this type is in English (usually Old English), and only a few of the letters cause any real problems. I think we should capture this material if we can.

The current policy (of saying nothing about it) will cause problems like those found in Ws535: some of the words in AS type are captured, often wrongly (because of the odd letter forms); others are left uncaptured as <GAP DESC="foreign">.

The best course will be to transcribe the text in AS type; failing that, the next best thing will be to recognize it and mark it as <GAP DESC="foreign">. Partial or incorrect capture would be the worst options.

Among the lower-case letters, the chief differences from ordinary roman type (and chief sources of confusion) are:

d capture as d a curved form of the letter with a very small ascender

f capture as f resembles a capital "F" set with the cross bar on the base line.

g capture as g a flat-topped version.

r capture as r resembles a lower-case "n" with the left upright extended below the baseline. Sometimes confused with "p".

s capture as s a very stubby version of the "tall s"; resembles an "r"

t capture as t a distinctive flat-topped version of t, like greek tau

wyn capture as &wyn; (as w also acceptable) resembles a narrow "p"; printers sometimes substitute "p".

thorn capture as þ the familiar Middle English and Modern Icelandic character

that abbrev. capture as &that; a thorn with a cross stroke is an abbreviation for "that"

& capture as & resembles a "7" often with a curl to the left at the bottom of the upright stroke (this form is the so-called "Tironian 'et'").

eth capture as ð a curved "d" with a stroke crossing the upright above the bowl.

ash or aesc capture as æ (as ae also acceptable) like the Latin ae digraph.

y capture as y y is often dotted; ignore the dot

Sometimes, the printer will use ordinary roman capitals, sometimes 'uncial'-style capitals, or others imitative of insular manuscript hands, sometimes a mixture. Here a few of the non-standard capitals we've encountered so far (also one piece of unusual punctuation which appears to be a form of semi-colon, though it may be intended as a form of punctus elevatus):

H capture as H
("Hyd")

M capture as M
("æfter Moyses æ")

S capture as S
("Seint Iohannes")

AE capture as Æ (Ae is also ok)
("Æþelstane cyning")

; capture as ;

A late 17th-century book of type samples includes the following:

Transcription:

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T Ð U &WYN; X Y Z

a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p r s t ð þ u &wyn; x y z &

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofenum. Si þin nama gehalgod. To-becume þin rice. Ge&wyn;urðe þin &wyn;illa on eorðan. s&wyn;a s&wyn;a on heofenum. Urne dægh&wyn;amlican hlaf syle us to dæg. And forgyf ur gyltas. s&wyn;a s&wyn;a &wyn;e forgifað urum gyltendum. And ne gelædde þu us on costnunge. ac alys us of yfele. soðlice.

Brief Examples

The AS type can be most confusing in small doses, especially if you do not recognize that the typeface has changed for a single word or two (for clarity, I've put curly braces around the AS type in the following transcriptions):

that {scyttan,}

the Saxon, {&that; Meren Dam,}

Now {sylan,} in the Saxon Tongue, is to divide

the word {Mar,}

ISLAND should e called {Englelonð,}

{Turces igge,} Torksey in Lincolnshire at this day.

word as {Saexson,}

{mid his &wyn;itena geþeahte}

Extended Examples

Long passages are more obviously in a distinct typeface, e.g.:

Transcription:*Se hælend Crist syddan he to &that;ysum life com & mann &wyn;æarð ge&wyn;eaxen Ðara he &wyn;æs þrittig þintra eald on þære menniscnysse ða began he þondra þircenne & geceas &that;a t&that;elf leorningenihtas þa ðe &wyn;e apostolas hatad.

[*The AS type in this book actually has other problems, too: the printer (or author) seems to have misspelled many words, confused several similar letters (e.g. wyn/thorn/that), and in general made a hash of things. This passage, with obvious typos corrected, might better read: Se hælend Crist syððan he to þysum life com & mann &wyn;æarð ge&wyn;eaxen Ða þa he &wyn;æs þrittig &wyn;intra eald on þære menniscnysse ða began he &wyn;ondra &wyn;ircenne & geceas þa t&wyn;elf leorningcnihtas þa ðe &wyn;e apostolas hatað.]

Some other examples

d	capture as d	a curved form of the letter with a very small ascender
f	capture as f	resembles a capital "F" set with the cross bar on the base line.
g	capture as g	a flat-topped version.
r	capture as r	resembles a lower-case "n" with the left upright extended below the baseline. Sometimes confused with "p".
s	capture as s	a very stubby version of the "tall s"; resembles an "r"
t	capture as t	a distinctive flat-topped version of t, like greek tau
wyn	capture as &wyn; (as w also acceptable)	resembles a narrow "p"; printers sometimes substitute "p".
thorn	capture as þ	the familiar Middle English and Modern Icelandic character
that abbrev.	capture as &that;	a thorn with a cross stroke is an abbreviation for "that"
&	capture as &	resembles a "7" often with a curl to the left at the bottom of the upright stroke (this form is the so-called "Tironian 'et'").
eth	capture as ð	a curved "d" with a stroke crossing the upright above the bowl.
ash or aesc	capture as æ (as ae also acceptable)	like the Latin ae digraph.
y	capture as y	y is often dotted; ignore the dot

H	capture as H	("Hyd")
M	capture as M	("æfter Moyses æ")
S	capture as S	("Seint Iohannes")
AE	capture as Æ (Ae is also ok)	("Æþelstane cyning")
;	capture as ;

	that {scyttan,}
	the Saxon, {&that; Meren Dam,}
	Now {sylan,} in the Saxon Tongue, is to divide
	the word {Mar,}
	ISLAND should e called {Englelonð,}
	{Turces igge,} Torksey in Lincolnshire at this day.
	word as {Saexson,}
	{mid his &wyn;itena geþeahte}