The queen's two hands

Gibson, Jonathan (2011). The queen's two hands. In: Petrina, Alessandra ed. Representations of Elizabeth I in Early Modern Culture. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 47–65.

URL: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=47...

Abstract

In this chapter, I analyse the different 'hands' (or styles of handwriting) used by Elizabeth I: the italic hand in which her earliest texts were written, a later italic, and the rough, 'skrating' hand in which she wrote informal manuscripts after her accession to the throne. I link the second italic hand to exemplars in Giovambattista Palatino's Libro nuovo d'imparare a scrivere tutte sorte de lettere (1540), a handwriting manual owned by Elizabeth's brother, Edward VI, who, like Elizabeth, imitated its letter-forms. I show that the ornamentation in Elizabeth's famous signature derives from samples in Palatino's book. I also re-examine the gendering of handwriting in early modern England and the significance of the contrast between Elizabeth's 'skrating' hand and the formality of her signature.

Viewing alternatives

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats