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| Paleography Exercises | |
| Ramsay Psalter (British Library, Harley 2904, f.181), late 10th century. All images by permission of the British Library. | |
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This is a leaf from a late 10th century psalter, probably written in Winchester for the use of Ramsay Abbey in Huntingdonshire. The script is a very clear and bold Caroline minuscule, in the style that old paleography books refer to as a "fine liturgical hand". The heading is in a form of rustic capitals, with a decorative initial B bearing acanthus leaf ornament. The Latin text is the end of Psalm 142 and the beginning of Psalm 143 in the Gallican translation, equivalent to Psalms 143 and 144 in a modern Bible. There are numerous abbreviations, indicating that the process of abbreviation in no way diminished an important text in a high class volume, nor did it decrease the legibility of a work designed for reading aloud in public. |
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| overview | text | alphabet | abbreviations | exercises | transcript | translation | |
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| Click on each of the above to walk your way through a segment of the text. The transcript will appear in a separate window so that you can use it for reference at any time. These exercises are designed to guide you through the text, not test you, so you can cheat as much as you like. | |
 Script sample for this example |
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Index
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