leo academyBeta
Handbook

Capital Y · secretary hand

Swept Y

Unit 12

A y with a big sweeping tail.

When is it a capital?

A capital Y is large with a long sweeping tail; y for thorn (yᵉ, yᵗ) is never a capital.

Model letter

McKerrow (1927), fig. 23, no. 1 · public domain

In real manuscripts

Real ink from digitised records. The scans are toned to match the other examples.

In practice lines

Examples of this form are on their way

Don’t confuse it with

Create a free Leo accountTaught in unit 12. Standard members get the whole course.
Coming soon

Other forms of capital Y

looped Y
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).