[split] Marginalia Latin script [GENERAL DISCUSSION]

[MarcoP]

Interesting that you mention a young man, David. Something had been bothering me, which made me thing the writer may have been a student. 
You see, as Marco said before, this is a clear cursive script. Many letters are written connected. But then on the other hand, sometimes ligatures are not made where we would expect them. Also there's quite some variation in glyph shapes. And that taken together with the unusual slant of the glyphs... May this signal uncertainty or lack of experience with this way of writing?

Hi Koen,
actually, I wrote that "the script is a Cursiva as defined You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.".
That same site briefly discusses the difference between "cursive" and "Cursiva" You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (page bottom).

Cursive, as a technical term, means a script written with comparatively few lifts of the pen. That is a distinction based on ductus. Cursive can also be used to mean simply “rapidly written” or “messy”

I don't think the script is "cursive" in any of the two senses. It may be partially connected, but certainly much less so than most contemporary scripts.
On the other hand, Cursiva is defined strictly in terms of character shapes.

About the  student idea you and David discuss, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. was mentioned in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as a partial match for the marginal Latin script. It has reasonably spaced characters and minimal or no abbreviations. Character shapes are also more or less close.

The ONB titles it "Libellus dialogorum latinus pro instruendo Maximiliano I. conscriptus" - "A Latin booklet of dialogues written to instruct Maxmilian I". It was clearly written and used for the instruction of a child (so it must be dated to 1465ca, since Maximilian was born in 1459).

The booklet includes basic Latin moral sentences and something like a tiny German-Latin dictionary that the infant student decorated with his clumsy sketches. It seems reasonable to believe that, if this kind of simplified script was used for teaching how to write, early writing attempts would also be close to it.
Different languages, a simplified script, sketches: these could all indeed be phenomena related with some kind of learning.


BTW, the recently discussed You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. also are early grammar exercises, but the author appears more mature than a young child.