The Scribal Fingerprint

This book provides a graphetic analysis of the two hands active in MS GUL Hunter 83, a Middle English edition of a Prose Brut text. It is based on the methodology first put forward by Professor McIntosh in 1974, which uses Graphetic and Linguistic Profiles in order to identify scribal idiosyncrasies. By applying the graphetic element of this theory to MS Hunter 83, the main body of this thesis presents two ‘scribal fingerprints'', ultimately singling out graphetic behaviour characteristic of both hands. The primary aim is an in-depth analysis of the letter forms which will make up the body of the Graphetic Profiles of the two scribes. However, it may also be possible to identify a dialectal difference, since it is said that scribe B wrote in a ‘typical Scottish hand'' (Matheson 1998:205). A Graphetic Profile can shed further light on this assumption and identify the typical Scottish features allegedly present in the hand of this scribe. In sum, the research presented in this book is an attempt to test the validity and value of McIntosh''s analytic procedure on two complex scribal outputs from the end of the Middle English period.