VMs: How to write <ch> and <sh>...?

[Nick Pelling <nickpelling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

One thing I've never quite been completely certain about is how to write 
<ch> and <sh>.

Many <ch> instances have a faint line running from the bottom of the left 
curve to the middle of the right curve, which makes me think that for 
those, the quill stroke typically started top right, ran left along the 
horizontal bar, down the left curve, picked up and moved low over the paper 
back to the top right again, brought down, and finally curved down the 
right curve.

However, other <ch> instances look as though the letter was started in the 
centre of the horizontal line, with the "pull-back" done to the centre of 
the horizontal bar - this gives a "dip" or "lull" in the ink darkness 
across the bar.

Also, there seems to be no obvious clue in yet other <ch> instances how 
they were written at all, so this is far from a complete account. :-/

Further, the <ch>s through many crossed gallows look to me as though the 
horizontal bar was drawn left to right (with the stroke terminating in the 
right curve), with the left curve then added as a second separate stroke 
(though I'm not sure about the order, though).

Finally, my guess is that <sh> instances were typically drawn leftwards 
from the centre of the horizontal bar, then the left curve downwards, then 
the plume through the bar, then resumed along the horizontal bar going 
rightwards, then terminating with the final right curve downwards. As with 
<ch>, you get different effects depending where you start on the horizontal 
bar - this may even be the physical origin for the "tear-drop" plumes (if 
you start on the top right of the bar). Whether this is due to a lazy 
writer or a subtle ciphering system is another question completely. :-)

Anyway, may I ask if anyone has tried to understand and systematise the 
whole VMs alphabet in this sort of way? I'd be especially interested to 
hear if this has been used to look at the hoary old Hand 1 / Hand 2 debate, 
which we don't seem to talk about much these days... :-)

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx with a body saying:
unsubscribe vms-list