Numbering Quire and pages

[-JKP-]

If you look at the quire numbers, you might notice that they are written like the person was used to handling a brush. People learn to hold brushes and quills in a certain way when they have traditional training.

The VMS text does not tend to have this characteristic. The pen is not held at quite the right angle to create professional calligraphic text and does not have many brush-like qualities either.

But... the quire numbers are different...

There isn't much to go on, as far as the quire numbers are concerned, but the little bit that exists hints at someone who has learned to use and "sweep" a brush. Look at the long tails and especially the initial hook on the number 5 in the 5th quire marking. You can also see it in the 14th quire mark. Look at the way the 4 is drawn. It is two "sweeps" of the quill (the person used a quill like a brush). It hints at someone who was trained in drawing (or at least had some practice or skill in drawing) rather than in calligraphy. Script is more "measured" and the stems and loops are not usually "swept" unless it's the ornate kind of calligraphy.

The folio numbers, in contrast, are very standard, very mainstream.