The tall letters of this last specimen exhibit precisely the character of those which were copied from the Italic style, at a later period, in both French and English charters; in the former long before the latter; proving, in both cases, that Italy was still the centre from which the tone of the arts of civilisation was imparted to Western Europe, as before the fall of Rome.

Several specimens might be added, from earlier periods of the Lombardic writing of the sixth and seventh centuries, did the plan of this work allow it; but sufficient has been shewn to illustrate the fact, that the ancient Roman cursive hand was the foundation of the earliest cursive writing of modern European nations, as much as Roman capitals and uncials were the foundation of the letters of the more careful MSS.

Before proceeding to describe the style of writing practised by the Frankish conquerors of Gaul, which was the first strictly national manner established, I must allude briefly to another Italic style, which may possibly have been the prototype of the angular or modern Gothic letters, which, about the thirteenth century, prevailed all over Europe. This style is termed by French paleographers Lombarde brisée, from the angular break in the down-strokes of the letters, especially the M's, N's, and letters similarly formed. The line given as a specimen (Plate VIII. No. 7) reads, "Similes habent istas tres alias," &c. &c. This manner of writing must not be confused with the different cursive styles in which diplomas, &c. &c., were written rapidly by official scribes, as it belongs to the class of careful writing founded on the Roman style (Nos. 2 and 3, Plate VIII.), which was that in which careful calligraphers executed valuable MSS.; a style to be treated of separately at the end of this chapter.

In Gaul, as in Italy, the Roman system of writing was not suddenly changed by the barbarian conquest and subjection of the country; and both the official writers and the private companies of scribes still continued their vocations as before. The earliest specimen of Franco-Gallic writing known, is a portion of the Homilies of Avitus, Bishop of Vienna in Dauphiny, written on papyrus in a cursive Roman hand. It is considered by the ablest and most critical paleographers to be of the sixth century, as St. Avitus died in the year 525. The earliest Gallic charters of the Merovingian period are also written on papyrus, which was not as yet superseded by the general use of vellum. The specimen (Plate IX. No. 1) is from an edict or charter of Dagobert I., discovered by Mabillon at St. Denis, where it was in use as waste-paper to fold up more recent documents. The specimen reads, "Quotienscumque petitionibus," &c., referring to a confirmation of the partition of certain patrimonial property between one Ursinus, described as a vir inluster, and one Beppolinus,-names shewing how large an admixture of Roman lineage yet remained among the Gallic population; the style also exhibits the strongest affinity to the late cursive Roman, even more so than to the wellknown Franco-Gallic.

The next specimen (No. 2, Plate IX.), also written on papyrus, exhibits, on the other hand, strong Franco-Gallic characteristics. It is attributed to Thierri III., and supposed to have been written about the year 690 A.D. The portion engraved reads, "Basilica sci Domni Dionisi," &c. (the church of St. Denys, &c.) The deed contains the will of the son of one Iddane, in which he bequeaths property to Chramnetrade, his wife, and to the church of St. Denys. The names in this document are, like the style of the writing, more Frankish than Roman; such as Meduald, Thorrias, Rodolen. A charter of Clovis III. is published in the work of M. Sylvestre, of somewhat similar style, but written on vellum, in which the king is styled "Chlodovius Rex Francorum vir inluster," &c.

My next specimen (Plate IX. No. 3) is from a charter of Childebert III., and, like the one just mentioned of Clovis III., it is written on vellum, which, from about this time, entirely superseded papyrus in the north-west of Europe. The flourish at the beginning is a variation of the monogram (usually in the form of a cross), "In nomine Christi," in the name of Christ, after which the name of the king, Childeberthus, is written in larger letters than the rest of the deed, as Chil-de-berths, the last syllable having a mark of abbreviation. Like Clovis III. and his predecessors, he is styled Rex Francorum et vir inluster,—a title which belonged, in the Eastern empire, to the dignity of consul, and which had been adopted by the Merovingian kings since Clovis received the rank and dignity of consul from the Emperor Anastasius. At the end of this deed of Childebert, is what appears to be the sign-manual of the king himself, written in very large characters, as Childeber-cthus Rex. These three specimens represent the cursive manner of writing known as the FrancoGallic and Merovingian styles.

During the reign of Charlemagne great progress was made in the general civilisation of France; especially in the arts, as shewn in the elegant manner in which some of the diplomas, capitularies, and charters of the reign were written. The specimen (Plate IX. No. 4), from a charter of this reign, which exhibits immense progress in neatness of execution over the previous specimen of Childebert III., is a grant respecting the monastery of La Grasse; at the end of which, the new emperor of the West is styled not only King of the Franks, but also of the newly-conquered Lombards, and Patrician of Rome,-a title conferred upon him by the Pope in 754. The more regular style of writing adopted about this time in France is termed, by paleographers, Caroline, or Carlovingian; of which, in the more set styles used in careful MSS., some magnificent specimens are known, to be described hereafter. The reign of Charlemagne indeed marks a distinct epoch in the art of French writing; for, by the advice of Alcuin, Warnefreide, and other learned men, a system of punctuation was adopted at this period for books, and soon after even for diplomas. Among the peculiarities which the student will not fail to remark in MSS. of this period, are the various abbreviations, the

figure, &, being used not only for the conjunction and, and its Latin form et, but also for the letters E. T., as in the word petiit, which in this charter is

written P&IT.

It was in this reign that monograms were first used as signatures at the end of deeds. They were principally formed, as in the example from the deed just described, of the sign of the cross, with the letters of the name superadded; which, in the present instance, are K. A. R. O. L. V. S. (See Plate IX. No. 5.) The Merovingians previously used the sign of the cross only; a custom, from which our term, to SIGN (signari) that is, making the sign of the cross, is derived. Monograms of the kind described above are from this period constantly found on the characters of the French kings till the reign of Philip III., after which they were discontinued. Eginhard, one of the secretaries and the historian of Charlemagne, states that the emperor himself, at an advanced period of life, learned to write; and he informs us that "he commonly kept under his pillow tablets and little books to accustom himself during his hours of rest to form his letters; but he succeeded badly in that tardy toil, unseasonably commenced." Lambecius and others, from this passage of Enginhard, have supposed that the large ornamental capitals so peculiar to this epoch are the letters alluded to by the historian, and that the king thus practised the art of illumination for his amusement; but Sismondi considers that the common cursive writing of the time is alluded to. However this may be, Charlemagne never succeeded in learning to write, notwithstanding his wish to do so; indeed, it is not till long after this time (with few exceptions) that we find any but churchmen or professed scribes able to write more than their name, and even that very rarely.

The last phase of cursive writing in diplomatic instruments of this period in France is termed the Capetian, from the name of the race founded by Hugues Capet, during whose sway this style prevailed. It is, however, simply a degradation of the Carlovingian manner, with a slight return to some of the peculiarities of the Merovingian period, as will be seen by the specimen (Plate IX. No. 6), from a charter of the reign of Hugues Capet, A.D. 988. At the end of the charter is-Signi gloriosissimi Hugonis Regis; opposite which is a monogram forming Hugo Rex. After this period the cursive hand of diplomas resembled greatly the minuscule hand of MS. books, being distinguished from them by scarcely more than the long strokes and flourishes, for which there is seldom room in the closer lines of books.

The running hand in Germany was not nearly so free or regular as in France and Italy, or even in England, as the specimen in Plate IX. No. 7, will shew, which is from a charter of the Emperor Conrad I., conferring a grant on the Abbey of St. Emmeran at Ratisbon, about the year 914 A.D. The writing of this German grant is more like the early Merovingian writing than the more recent French styles. In this place it will perhaps be desirable to give a

specimen of the Visigothic hand as practised in the southern provinces of France, where it closely resembled the style of writing which the Visigoths of Spain had founded on the late Roman. The specimen (Plate IX. No. 8) is from a sacramentary of the Abbey of Gellone, in Languedoc, written in the eighth century, and slightly resembling in manner the set Saxon and other national styles of the period used in regular MSS.; for this specimen is not to be classed with the cursive writing of diplomas and such documents, but with the more carefully written MSS., as copies of the Gospels, &c. About the twelfth century the peculiar hand of the early diplomas had begun to pass out of practice, and in the thirteenth it was merged in the small sharp Gothic hand, then becoming general in all kinds of writing.

It would be impossible, in the compass of this volume, to follow out all the varieties both of the cursive and set manners of writing which succeeded each other in France during the Capetian and Ludovician periods, till the thirteenth century, when the styles called Minuscule-Roman, Minuscule-Carlovingian, Minuscule-Capetian, &c. &c., all merged in the angular Gothic which perfected itself in the thirteenth century; the various transitions leading to which, we shall have ample opportunity of studying in the series of English examples attached to the next chapter.

The rise of the art of illumination in Western Europe must occupy a few pages in this place. In treating of Greek writing in general, I have briefly described the mode in which later Grecian MSS. were occasionally decorated, or "illuminated," as Dante casually informs us the art of ornamenting manuscripts was termed by the French in his time. But in describing the kind of decorative art which distinguished the MSS. of Western Europe, it will be necessary to refer again to its origin in the East. Separate leaves of a square form, as in modern books, were first adopted for MSS. about the second or third century A.D., when the ancient scroll, or continuous roll, was abandoned.* Greater facility was thus afforded for decorating these separate pages with rich letters and ornamental borders than was afforded during the time that the scroll form of MS. was in use. This change probably occurred, as I have stated, not earlier than the second century of the Christian era; but previous to that time we have records of MSS. written on purple vellum in golden letters. The earliest Greek or Roman MSS. on vellum, those of the fourth and fifth centuries, have generally but little ornament, save occasional red or gold letters at the beginning of chapters. The MS. Dioscorides, however, of the Vienna collection, of the fifth century, has large painted miniatures surrounded by narrow ornamental borderings; and fragments of a copy of the Gospels in the British Museum, of as early a date, have ornamental borderings and other ornaments on a gold ground, sufficiently rich to suggest the idea that this elaborate mode of decorating manuscripts originated in the luxurious capital

* For some farther account of the origin of the present form of books, the reader is referred to the chapter on Writing Materials."