The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-08-14 00:00:00

ANCIENT RECORDS.-HANIiS' WRITING.

From the Parliamentary Report of Evidence del:ve:el
before a Select Committee, in July last. uto tilt prese..t
mode of " engrossing" Bills, Sze. :
FR A Nets Coulter, Enna , examined.
Yoe are a deputy comh6Aioner for records'?—! am.
What records ?—I am appoieted sub.rotomiuioner f r
the publication of the Parliamentary
Will you state what kind of writing rod'' Altd ad a num-
ber of years, going two or three centuries back, the eas;e...
read and the best ?s—lt always happened that legal hands
have been somewhat older than the hands of the time
what we call the ancient Gothic hands, in which the r.- •
cords are written with various abbreviations, is in (act de-
rived from the Roman notarial hand, and is much older..
in point of origin, than the records themselves ; and there
is always a marked distinction between legal bands en•l
what may be called monastic hands. There may he some •
coufusiou now and then, for many of the churchmen were
lawyers, but still there Is always a distinction between re-
cords and documents which may be supposed to have beets -
written in a tnooastery for common readers. Lawyers ac-
customing themselves to precedent, copy the farms ituma-
diately before them, rather than come down into their (twit
time ; but there is a certain degree of advadatage resulting- -
from this practice; a very slight degree of difficulty w :t
indispose the lawyer to consult the record itself,eonsequent-
ly every habit which tends to make him acquainted with,
the handwriting of preceding times, will facilitate his re-
ference.to the records of preceding times.
You recommend one hand to be constantly kept for re•
cords ?—Certainly 1 should.
What hands do you consider the bed; is it that In wkc't
the records of Parliament are kept in the Rolls Other, or
is it the engrossing hand ?-1 have never seen the moderis
enrolments in the Rolls Office, but I >heuld concur in the
opitian Mr. Bailey has given with regard to a It .b hvitin.e
approximating to the handwriting introduced in the reign
et Edward IV., and which is very distinct from any pre-
ceding hand, or any in the subsequent times; the only ulO
dam rolls I have seen are, the close and patent rolls its
Chancery, which are engrossed in the common engrossing.
hand; but with regard to the Pipe rolls, which are int,!tt
Itp. now pretty nearly in the same form they were in the
reign of King Stephen, there is a very peculiar hand used
in the heading of them, which is a kind of bastard wart
band ; it is a very distinct hand.
It is what is called theold court-hand ?-1 believe it has a
degree of resemblance to it, but is more like what is called
Set Chancery.
Do you conceive that it would be improper to intro Inca
the present English current band in any of our records ?—t
should think that, on the whole, the disadvantages would he
greater than the advantages.
Do you agree with Mr. Bailey, in the opinion of the an-
periur security of having long rolls for records ; or should.
you prefer the having records in books?-1 should certainly
agree with Mr. Bailey; sad on the whole, although a roll
is inconvenient to consult, yet it preserves the frailest Ma-
terials. I may instance the papyri, such as the fragment of
the Iliad, which will be soon in the possession of alr-
Bankes. This has been rolled up; and thou,o funned o:'
the frailest possible material, hardly stronger then straw, its
form preset ved It far a great length of time.
What is the oldest book?—The Altrandliwe ifaaa-
script • in the Museum is probably the oldest; that being•
intended for the church service, was naturally *rated
la the shape of a book; and there are other books of gist
period.
Have you heard the evidence of Mr. Hewle:t and Mr.
Bail-y, with respect to the ink and the parchment ?-1 have;
I should think the fault was more la the parchment than in
the ink.
In that case, would you prefer a good paper ?—Certainly
not. I think the fault arises from their putting too Bach
calcareous matter on the parchment, in order to give is
what they call a good face ; and 1 have observed in modern
books, printed on vellum, that in order to make them Itso
handsome, they put some kind of preparation of little on
the skin, which makes the ink look very black at first, ha;
after a time it scales off.
Bat bad ass the parchment is, you would prefer it to the
bust .paper?—Unquestionably 1 would.
,Att what period do you observe that the ink begins very
much to fail :—1 can hardly tell ; I should sty, perhaps,
about the time of Charles the seeond, and thety perhips,
it may be accounted for. In the time of the Consomme-Wit
Irthey abolished the court 'hand •in making sap records, Hatt
Iraq:Rigged the common secretary hand; and on the ,A -
toratitin, the old mode was re-irrro lame I; but 1 shri,lll
think rouse degree of slovenliness nosained in the of ett.
..Dnes os.t ,the common hand vary periodieally •
ai ply• -
iVid you can distinguish the ordinary hs-Ideritil

-2743'0,-7

~' _