| 36876 |
abstract |
In this chapter, I analyse the different 'hands' (or styles of handwriting) used by
Elizabeth I: the italic hand in which her earliest texts were written, a later italic,
and the rough, 'skrating' hand in which she wrote informal manuscripts after her accession
to the throne. I link the second italic hand to exemplars in Giovambattista Palatino's
Libro nuovo d'imparare a scrivere tutte sorte de lettere (1540), a handwriting manual
owned by Elizabeth's brother, Edward VI, who, like Elizabeth, imitated its letter-forms.
I show that the ornamentation in Elizabeth's famous signature derives from samples
in Palatino's book. I also re-examine the gendering of handwriting in early modern
England and the significance of the contrast between Elizabeth's 'skrating' hand and
the formality of her signature. |