(24-08-2025, 06:57 PM)R. Sale wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The argument from authority designates the proper terminology - that is "hands" not "scribes". Sure, the five hands could belong to five scribes, but is that the only explanation?
The period of time covered by the C-14 dates is more than 30 years at a minimum. This span of time is virtually equivalent to the C-14 determination, but it covers a good portion of a human life. Handwriting can evolve. Accidental injury of the hand or arthritis may have had an effect on the written text.
There is also such a thing as intentionally writing smaller if there is a lot to be put on a page.
The various parts of the VMs may have been done by different people and potentially at different times over a couple of decades. Are there any solid reasons to presume that half a dozen people had worked night and day to make the VMs?
My handwriting is really bad and when I try to write something neat I always tend to make it smaller and it looks a lot more different. But smaller text is mainly on C. Language B that alone might be proof that another hand was involved.
Also one more thing I wonder, I have never used a quill does using different quills require you to write smaller? Or different?