Ascender fantasies

[davidjackson]

The reason you're not familiar with the term "Litterae Elongata" is because it's a German technical term for the ascenders. See, ie, the 1965 article "Die Litterae Elongatae. Ein Beitrag zur Formengeschichte und Herkunft der mittelalterlichen Urkundenschrift" published in Archiv für Diplomatik by Jochen Götze.


The term has of course made it into English; see, ie, the entry for "Development and characteristics of chanceries" in the Encyclopedia Britannica which discusses litterae, both elongated and otherwise.