Browse manuscript by scribe
The handwriting of several scribes appears in Henry Bellingham's Book. Each is responsible for a discreet section of the manuscript; once a scribe's section of the manuscript ends, his handwriting does not reappear. The following table will take you to the beginning of each scribe's section.
There is much uniformity of style among the scribes' handwriting, but there are enough differences in penstrokes to confirm that there were many individuals contributing to this manuscript. The uniformity of style suggests that most of the scribes were trained in the same school or profession. (In early modern England, scribes were trained to write in the style of the profession in which they worked, hence different styles existed for business and legal documents. The National Archives Palaeography Tutorial is a good resource for learning more about types of old handwriting and how to read them.)
Other ways to navigate the Bellingham Commonplace Book:
| Hand | Scribe | Links to files |
|---|---|---|
| Hand A | Henry Bellingham | CB001 (signature, poem) |
| Hand B | [Henry Bellingham?] | CB002, CB090-CB092 |
| Hand C | Henry Bellingham's amanuensis | CB003-CB089 |
| Hand D | unknown [scribe or owner?] | CB093-CB184 |
| Hand E | unknown [owner] | CB185-CB186 |
Hand A was most likely Henry Bellingham's. It appears on the first page of the manuscript in the form of an autograph signature and the Latin poem, "Animula vagula blandula," composed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
Hand B appears in the main list of headings on the second page and for three pages in the middle of the manuscript. It bears striking similarity to Hand A. (Compare the sharply angled upstroke on the p, the hook on the second stroke of the k, the hook at the beginning of the y, and the shape of the final s in the autograph with Hand B.) Unfortunately, there is too little writing in the autograph and poem to know with certainty that Hands A and B are the same.
When the composition of the manuscript was under the direction of Henry Bellingham, he likely employed an amanuensis, or an educated man who served as a personal secretary. This is Hand C. It makes up most of the first half of the manuscript.
Hand D begins immediately after the copy of receipt for fees paid to the king's servants on the occasion of Henry Bellingham's knighthood. This scribe is clearly working after Henry Bellingham's death in 1650, based on the publication dates that he records for works he copied and took notes on. The name of this scribe is unknown. We do not know for whom he worked, although the note-taking and annotation style is similar to the earlier sections. The layout, writing, and annotation looks sloppier in this section.
Hand E appears at the end of the manuscript. It is heavy and uniform, and it looks very different from the other scripts. This hand shows up throughout the manuscript, annotating and correcting the pre-existing text. This scribe appears to have been a personal owner of the manuscript. It is impossible to tell if he or she was the owner immediately after Henry Bellingham's death: the style of handwriting is characteristic of the late seventeenth century. Textual clues (such as the mention of war with the Dutch) do not necessarily aid in estimating the date more precisely.