leo academyBeta
Handbook

Letter f · secretary hand

Ticked f

Also called secretary f

Unit 2very common

The long tail is written first as a straight downstroke; a loop is added at the top and finished with a small tick across the stem.

Model letter

McKerrow (1927), fig. 22, no. 1 · public domain
McKerrow (1927), fig. 22, no. 2 · public domain

In practice lines

Every f below was checked by hand. They are not yet sorted by form, so some show another f.

“first”
“first”
“of”
“himselfe;”
“of”
“of”
“from”
“of”

Practice lines drawn in period hands

Don’t confuse it with

Practise this letter Unit 2 · Meet the long s
Coming soon

Other forms of f

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).