Month names collection / metastudy

[nablator]

Back to the merry month of May, it looks to me as though there is a very similar stroke on the left leg of the 'm' and the lower left side of the 'a' in VMs 'may'. [See Post # 83.] It's a crisp, crescent shape, somewhat reclining. That stroke seems to be more acceptable in the letter 'a', but rather strange in the letter 'm'.

The crescent shape on both sides of the M with a more or less vertical stroke in the middle is not particularly difficult to find in 15th century manuscripts. I don't know how long it survived into the 16th century. I haven't found any from the 16th century.

   
Abbreviated Mercurium, Mercurio in Cambridge Trinity College O.2.47 f. 23r

In some printed books of the 16th century on the front page they chose to write the initial M of the Roman numeral of the date with these two crescent shapes instead of straight lines: "ᴄɪᴐ" or even weirder "ᴄIᴐ". Example: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.