The History of o



The History of o
The history of the letter o is very uneventful. It appears as a circular, oval or angular closed loop, and that is pretty much that.
	In the Old Roman square capitals, O is round.
	In the rustic capital script, O shows thick and thin strokes as the pen moves around the circle.
	The uncial O is similar.
	In this example of New Roman cursive, the minuscule o is plain and round.
In the pre-Carolingian minuscule scripts or National Hands, o only develops any different features in a couple of the unusual scripts.
	In a 6th century half uncial script o is round.
	In the specialised book script Corbie ab the loop of o is crossed over rather than closed, producing a couple of extensions on the top.
	An old northern Italian book hand of the 8th century shows a simple sloping version of o.
	This sample from Merovingian minuscule or Germanic book hand is also simple and rounded.
	This o from the variant of Merovingian minuscule known as Luxeuil minuscule looks slightly squashed.
	The Visigothic script has produced a simple round o.
	The letter o in the formal script known as known as insular half uncial is bold and round.
	This 10th century example of o from insular minuscule is also simple and round.
	In this example from a developed form of Beneventan minuscule the letter o shows the characteristically marked differences between the thick and thin lines.
	In Merovingian chancery script the letter o has a very tiny loop with a long curl on top.
	In the old curialis of the papal chancery o is round.
In the Carolingian scripts o is round.
	In this version of Caroline minuscule, o is round.
	A sample from a forged 12th century monastic charter is the same.
	The later papal curialis of the 11th century produces a round o.
	By the 12th century the diplomatic minuscule of the papal chancery produces a similar n.
	The 12th century diplomatic minuscule of the Imperial German chancery has produced a round o.
In the formal Gothic book hands, the letter o can become angular, and laterally compressed, but remains a simple closed letter.
	This protogothic o from a 12th century French book hand is angular, with markedly thick and thin lines.
	The 14th century Gothic rotunda version of the letter o is round.
	This 13th century Gothic textura o of medium grade is relatively round.
	The very formal Gothic prescissa has a very narrow and angular o with markedly thick and thin lines.
	A relatively informally written late 15th or early 16th Gothic textura script shows a broader but angular o.
	A 15th century Dutch language formal Gothic textura o is upright and angular.
In document hands and later cursive scripts, not a great deal changes.
more about o
Histories of Individual Letters

History of Scripts
What is Paleography?
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