Volume / Number: 5 / 539

• Paris France Bibliothèque Nationale de France Lat. 2024 (fol. 130)

Written in North-east France in the region where the so-called Laon a-z type was in vogue. The main manuscript was purchased for the Royal Library in 1713: 'Achepte a Paris a. 1713' (fol. l); there it bore the number 4004.3.

Script is a distinct French type of pre-Caroline minuscule found in a few MSS from Laon and called a-z from its distinguishing letters (see CLA 5.630 and 2.128, 174): a has the peculiarity that its two bows are angular, and z rises high above the line in the form of a fool's cap; uncial A occurs even in mid-line and has a characteristic bow (also seen in the ligature ę); i-longa is used both initially and for the semi-vocal sound; suprascript u after q combines with the following vowel and is crook-shaped; the ti ligature as a rule represents the hard sound of t, the normal ti the assibilated sound—the very opposite of Beneventan usage; the forms of x and y are noteworthy; numerous ligatures occur. The entry: 'In festo sancte tecle receperam de gilleb(erto) XII libris, saec. XII, is seen at the foot of fol. 1v.