leo academyBeta
Handbook

Capital A · secretary hand

Small A

Unit 4

A compact A like a large a with a hooked head.

When is it a capital?

Count it as a capital when it has one or two big loops and stands as tall as b, d or l.

Model letter

McKerrow (1927), fig. 23, no. 3 · public domain

In practice lines

Examples of this form are on their way

Don’t confuse it with

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Coming soon

Other forms of capital A

Model letters: R. B. McKerrow, An Introduction to Bibliography (1927); Jean de Beauchesne & John Baildon, A Booke Containing Divers Sortes of Hands (1570 and 1581); Giovambattista Palatino, Libro nel qual s’insegna a scrivere (1550); and manuscripts in the Folger Shakespeare Library; all public domain. They stand in until Leo’s own model letters are drawn. Secretary letters typeset in Joscelyn by Peter S. Baker (SIL Open Font License).