Variation of glyph forms within single pages

[LisaFaginDavis]

The crossbars of [k] glyphs are important precisely because they speak to the ductus...a bowed crossbar results from the scribe NOT lifting the pen at the top of the left-hand leg but pulling the pen down to start the crossbar. A horizontal crossbar results from the scribe lifting the pen at the top of the left leg and starting the crossbar with a new stroke. It's the difference between a scribe writing the glyph with one stroke or two. Try it yourself. If you write a [k] with one stroke (starting at the bottom left), you'll tend to have a bowed crossbar. if you write with two strokes, the crossbar will tend to be horizontal.

Please note that I have written "TEND TO BE" not "ALWAYS ARE," because humans are not automatons. Handwriting is about tendancies, not about perfect repetition. This is why paleographers still disagree about how many scribes wrote The Book of Kells, for example. I'm not sure how many more times I can say it: paleography is subjective. People disagree, and such disagreements are rarely resolved to everyone's satisfaction. All we can do is interpret the evidence in accordance with past experience. There cannot be an absolute right or wrong where a subjective analysis is concerned, but I stand by my results.