leo academyBeta
Handbook

Capital B · secretary hand

Double-bow B

Unit 7

An open stem followed by two stacked bows.

When is it a capital?

A capital B is wide and usually has a bar or a large lead-in bow; a small b of ascender height is lower case.

Model letter

McKerrow (1927), fig. 23, no. 2 · public domain

In practice lines

Examples of this form are on their way

Don’t confuse it with

Create a free Leo accountTaught in unit 7. Standard members get the whole course.
Coming soon

Other forms of capital B

barred Bz-bow Bround-lead B
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).