leo academyBeta
Handbook

Capital I/J · secretary hand

J-like I

Unit 8

A J-shaped capital with a flat head bar: read as I in most words (Iohn = John).

When is it a capital?

One letter serves for capital I and J. Decide which by the modern spelling of the word (Iohn = John, Isaac = Isaac).

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

Create a free Leo accountTaught in unit 8. Standard members get the whole course.
Coming soon

Other forms of capital I/J

hooked Ilong IA-like I
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).