[Article] Voynich Paleography article

[-JKP-]

One of the skills scribes had to learn was to mimic the handwriting of other people working on a manuscript. This was so the result was not full of jarring handwriting changes. To get it done on time (many were commissioned by patrons), they sometimes had several scribes working on different sections. The same with illuminators.

The mimicry was not perfect, you can usually still make out the handwriting, but the more professional ones did a good job of copying the same letterforms. What I have noticed, however, is that there is almost always a letter or two that is done in an individual way even when it is very consistent.