Note the diamond shapes at the end of the lines and, less clearly, at the foot of letters. The script is very regular and used for good quality books. Quadrata is the 'high-Gothic' variety of Textura, which is characterised by the consistent use of diamond-shaped feet on 'minim' letters made up of vertical strokes (such as i, m, n, u). The example belowВ isВ a Textura Quadrata hand, written c.1250-1300. Letter forms are kept separate from one another, and when well spaced give an appearance of formality and neatness.В There are various different forms of Textura, usually characterised by the way in which scribes formed the bottom of their letters. It is not a cursive hand, and is instead characterised by an upright appearance, and the use of separate strokes to form letters, which required the frequent raising or lifting of the nib from the writing surface. Sometimes called Gothic Book Hand or Black Letter, this was the most enduring script of the Middle Ages and was in use from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. Many hands are made up of a mixture of characteristics from different styles. They were first developed for the speedy copying of official documents or records, but gradually became used for copying other types of text. Cursive scripts contain letter forms made with as few strokes of the pen as possible. However, the most significant development in script in the English Middle Ages was the evolution of cursive hands which made the process of writing quicker and more efficient. Well-separated letters were their principal characteristic. At the beginning of the medieval period, scribes used 'set' scripts, which were very formal and tidy. The scripts favoured by English scribes evolved and changed over time.

Gothic textura formata font