One of the most difficult aspects of conducting research in medieval materials is the many changing hands used to copy manuscripts. In some traditions, such as the Byzantine and the Arabic, handwriting changed little over a thousand years (although those changes are significant). In the Latin West, manuscript hands changed frequently and could be located to a single region or cover the entire continent. This page is a work in progress that will provide brief introduction to the major pre-modern manuscript hands. If you would like to contribute or you would like to have your students contribute as part of their class, please email Ray Clemens.
Arabic
Byzantine
Armenian
Syriac
Hebrew
Ladino