---
title: "Copying strategies of late Middle English scribes: Hand(s) and"
description: "Earlier scholars had proposed this link on the basis of letter shapes and called the spelling evidence inconclusive. 19 references."
authors: ["María José Carrillo-Linares"]
year: 2020
venue: "SELIM 25"
source: "https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/SELIM/article/view/15529"
doi: "10.17811/selim.25.2020.121-172"
licence: "CC BY-NC-ND (journal licence per DOAJ; SELIM)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/carrillo-linares-2020-copying-strategies-late-middle-english/"
---
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# Copying strategies of late Middle English scribes: Hand(s) and language(s) of two 15th-century manuscripts

**Authors:** María José Carrillo-Linares · **Year:** 2020 · **Venue:** [SELIM 25](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/selim-journal-of-the-spanish-society-for-medieval-english-language-and/) ([SELIM Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature 2020](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/selim-journal-of-the-spanish-society-for-medieval-english-language-and/2020/)) · **Publisher:** [University of Oviedo](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/publishers/university-of-oviedo/) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-ND (journal licence per DOAJ; SELIM)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.17811/selim.25.2020.121-172) · [PDF](https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/SELIM/article/download/15529/13013) · [DOI 10.17811/selim.25.2020.121-172](https://doi.org/10.17811/selim.25.2020.121-172) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W3122203853)

**Citations:** 4 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14)

## Summary
The paper asks whether a single scribe wrote two 15th-century English manuscripts. These are the Hand B sections of the prose Brut Chronicle in Oxford, Bodleian Library Hatton 50 (Hatt50) and the copy of Hoccleve's Regiment of Princes in Cambridge, University Library Kk.1.3, part 11 (CULKk.1.3). Earlier scholars had proposed this link on the basis of letter shapes and called the spelling evidence inconclusive.

Carrillo-Linares transcribed samples from several sections of both books, using the originals or digital photographs. She tagged every word and morpheme lexico-grammatically to profile spelling, phonology and morphology, and added a detailed paleographical comparison.

The handwriting makes a common scribe very likely, although his set of letter variants shifts with the formality of the job. The two texts nonetheless have strikingly different linguistic profiles. The scribe kept many forms from his exemplars, especially in verse, where rhyme and metre discourage changes, and he converted only partly to his own usage.

The main lesson is that, for late Middle English, language alone cannot identify a scribe. Paleography must be the primary evidence, and dialect placement is only possible at a broad regional level.

## Key points
- Hatt50 has 131 parchment folios split among three hands, following Mooney & Matheson (2003):
  - the Beryn Scribe;
  - Hand B (ff. 18r–25v and 80r–84v);
  - Hand C (ff. 26r–79v and 108r–119r).
- CULKk.1.3 was rebound in 1976. Part 10 (Lydgate's Life of Our Lady) is attributed to the Beryn Scribe. Part 11 (Regiment of Princes, 79 folios) is the text tested against Hand B.
- The analytical frame is McIntosh's three scribal strategies: literatim copying, "translating" into one's own dialect, or a mix of the two.
- The paper builds assemblages of attested forms keyed to present-day English words; for example, IF appears as if / iff / ȝiff / iffe in CULKk.1.3. The combined profile can be placed broadly in Essex and neighbouring areas. It need not be a Mischsprache in Benskin & Laing's sense.
- The paper supports the claim that Hand B was fairly faithful to his sources. It finds no evidence that the Beryn Scribe prepared exemplars for Hands B and C. B and C share traits probably inherited from their exemplar(s), while the Beryn Scribe often differs from them.

## Interesting ideas
- One producer can output very different surface forms depending on the source being copied, so variant spellings reflect textual history more than the writer's own habits.
- The study groups all attested spellings under a present-day headword (PDE form → variants), which yields a compact, inspectable variant inventory.
- When one evidence channel (language) is contaminated by the source, the author makes an independent channel (handwriting) primary and treats the other as secondary.
- How freely a copyist changes forms depends on structural constraints: in verse, edits risk breaking rhyme or metre, so source forms survive.
- Forms that are widespread across regions make poor dialect markers, even if they later failed to become standard; only rarer, localised features are diagnostic.

## For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

- **I1** (tokens): Keep per-document variant tables mapping nonstandard spellings to lemmas, instead of assuming one fixed spelling system per author or corpus.
- **I2** (tokens): A similar headword-keyed variant list could serve as an explainable lemma lookup for archaic or nonstandard English in old fables and tales.
- **I3** (learn): When agreeing silver data across witness parsers, prefer witnesses whose errors are not driven by the same input artefacts, and treat correlated witnesses as weaker evidence.
- **I4** (back): Generation and translation through the meta-world could flag constrained spans (quotations, verse, fixed formulas) and preserve them verbatim rather than regenerate them.
- **I5** (tree): During UD dialect conversion, detect the source treebank's conventions from distinctive constructions only, not from labels shared by most dialects.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

## Institutions

- [Universidad de Huelva](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/universidad-de-huelva/) — University, Huelva, Spain · 2 works · 7 citations

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## Cite

Cite as: María José Carrillo-Linares. 2020. Copying strategies of late Middle English scribes: Hand(s) and language(s) of two 15th-century manuscripts. SELIM 25.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@inproceedings{carrillolinares2020copying,
  title = {{Copying strategies of late Middle English scribes: Hand(s) and language(s) of two 15th-century manuscripts}},
  author = {María José Carrillo-Linares},
  booktitle = {SELIM 25},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {10.17811/selim.25.2020.121-172},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.17811/selim.25.2020.121-172}
}
```

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## References

19 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. M ANUSCRIPT SOURCES Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Hatcher Library, 225 Cambridge, University Library Kk.1.3 (parts 10 and 11) London, British Library Harley 1337 London, British Library Harley 6251 Manchester, John Rylands Library English 63 Northumberland, Alnwick Castle 455 Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 50 Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson C. 901 Oxford, Bodleian Library, Tanner 11 Oxford, St John’s College 57 Philadelphia, Rosenbach Museum and Library 1084/2 Princeton, Firestone Library 100 Copying strategies of late Middle English scribes S ECONDARY SOURCES Benskin, M. & M. Laing 1981: Translations and Mischsprachen in Middle English Manuscripts. In M. Benskin & M. L. Samuels eds. So Meny People Longages and Tonges: Philological Essays in Scots and Mediaeval English Presented to Angus McIntosh. Edinburgh, Middle English Dialect Project: 55–106. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=M+ANUSCRIPT+SOURCES+Ann+Arbor%2C+University+of+Michigan%2C+Hatcher+Library%2C+225+Cambridge%2C+University+Library+Kk%2E1%2E3+%28parts+10+and+11%29+London%2C+British+Library+Harley+1337+London%2C+British+Library+Harley+62)
2. Carrillo-Linares, M. J. & K. Williamson 2019: A Reconsideration of the Dialectal Provenance of the Prick of Conscience in Oxford, St John ’ s College, 57. Anglia 137.2: 303–350. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Carrillo%2DLinares%2C+M%2E+J%2E+%26+K%2E+Williamson+2019%3A+A+Reconsideration+of+the+Dialectal+Provenance+of+the+Prick+of+Conscience+in+Oxford%2C+St+John+%E2%80%99+s+College%2C+57%2E+Anglia+137%2E2%3A+303%E2%80%93350%2E)
3. Carrillo-Linares, M. J. & K. Williamson 2020: The Linguistic Character of Manuscripts Attributed to the So-called ‘Beryn Scribe’: A Comparative Study. In L. Wright ed. The Multiple Origins of Standard English. Berlin & New York, Mouton de Gruyter: 87–139. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Carrillo%2DLinares%2C+M%2E+J%2E+%26+K%2E+Williamson+2020%3A+The+Linguistic+Character+of+Manuscripts+Attributed+to+the+So%2Dcalled+%E2%80%98Beryn+Scribe%E2%80%99%3A+A+Comparative+Study%2E+In+L%2E+Wright+ed%2E+The+Multiple+Origins+of+Standard)
4. Christianson, C. P. 1989: Evidence for the Study of London’s Late Medieval Manuscript-Book Trade. In J. Griffiths & D. Pearsall eds. Book Production and Publishing in Britain, 1375–1475. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 87–108. e-LALME: An Electronic Version of A Linguistic Atlas of Late Mediaeval English. 2013: M. Benskin, M. Laing, V. Karaiskos & K. Williamson. Edinburgh, The University of Edinburgh. [http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/ihd/elalme/elalme.html](http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/ihd/elalme/elalme.html). [Accessed from September 2013 to June 2020] [↗](http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/ihd/elalme/elalme.html)
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6. Horobin, S. & L. R. Mooney 2004: A ‘Piers Plowman’ Manuscript by the Hengwrt/Ellesmere Scribe and its Implications for London Standard English. Studies in the Age of Chaucer 26: 65–112. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Horobin%2C+S%2E+%26+L%2E+R%2E+Mooney+2004%3A+A+%E2%80%98Piers+Plowman%E2%80%99+Manuscript+by+the+Hengwrt%2FEllesmere+Scribe+and+its+Implications+for+London+Standard+English%2E+Studies+in+the+Age+of+Chaucer+26%3A+65%E2%80%93112%2E)
7. Laing, M. 2000: The Linguistic Stratification of the Middle English Texts in Oxford, Bodleain Library, Ms Digby 86. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 101.4: 523–569. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Laing%2C+M%2E+2000%3A+The+Linguistic+Stratification+of+the+Middle+English+Texts+in+Oxford%2C+Bodleain+Library%2C+Ms+Digby+86%2E+Neuphilologische+Mitteilungen+101%2E4%3A+523%E2%80%93569%2E)
8. LALME: A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English. 1986: A. McIntosh, M. L. Samuels & M. Benskin [with the assistance of M. Laing and K. Williamson]. Aberdeen, Aberdeen University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=LALME%3A+A+Linguistic+Atlas+of+Late+Medieval+English%2E+1986%3A+A%2E+McIntosh%2C+M%2E+L%2E+Samuels+%26+M%2E+Benskin+%5Bwith+the+assistance+of+M%2E+Laing+and+K%2E+Williamson%5D%2E+Aberdeen%2C+Aberdeen+University+Press%2E)
9. McIntosh, A. 1974: Towards an Inventory of Middle English Scribes. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 75: 602–624. [Reprinted in M. Laing ed. 1989: Middle English Dialectology: Essays on Some Principles and Problems. Aberdeen, Aberdeen University Press: 46–63.] [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=McIntosh%2C+A%2E+1974%3A+Towards+an+Inventory+of+Middle+English+Scribes%2E+Neuphilologische+Mitteilungen+75%3A+602%E2%80%93624%2E+%5BReprinted+in+M%2E+Laing+ed%2E+1989%3A+Middle+English+Dialectology%3A+Essays+on+Some+Principles+an)
10. Matheson, L. 1998: Prose Brut: The Development of a Middle English Chronicle. Tempe (Arizona), Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 180. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Matheson%2C+L%2E+1998%3A+Prose+Brut%3A+The+Development+of+a+Middle+English+Chronicle%2E+Tempe+%28Arizona%29%2C+Medieval+and+Renaissance+Texts+and+Studies%2C+180%2E)
11. Mooney, L. R. 2006: Chaucer’s Scribe. Speculum 81.1: 97–138. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Mooney%2C+L%2E+R%2E+2006%3A+Chaucer%E2%80%99s+Scribe%2E+Speculum+81%2E1%3A+97%E2%80%93138%2E)
12. Mooney, L. R. & L. Matheson 2003: The Beryn Scribe and his Texts: Evidence for Multiple-Copy Production of Manuscripts in Fifteenth-Century England. The Library 4.4: 347–370. Mooney, L. R., S. Horobin & E. Stubbs. Late Medieval English Scribes https://www.medievalscribes.com. ISBN 978-0-9557876-6-9. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1093/library/4.4.347)
13. María José Carrillo-Linares Mosser, D. 2010. The Paper Stocks of the Beryn Scribe. Journal of the Early Book Society for the Study of Manuscripts and Printing History 13: 63–93. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Mar%C3%ADa+Jos%C3%A9+Carrillo%2DLinares+Mosser%2C+D%2E+2010%2E+The+Paper+Stocks+of+the+Beryn+Scribe%2E+Journal+of+the+Early+Book+Society+for+the+Study+of+Manuscripts+and+Printing+History+13%3A+63%E2%80%9393%2E)
14. Mosser, D. & L. R. Mooney 2014: More Manuscripts by the Beryn Scribe and his Cohort. The Chaucer Review 49.1: 39–76. [↗](https://doi.org/10.5325/chaucerrev.49.1.0039)
15. Mosser, D. & L. R. Mooney 2016: The Case of the Hooked-g Scribe(s) and the Production of Middle English Literature, c. 1460 – c. 1490. Chaucer Review 51: 131– 150. [↗](https://doi.org/10.5325/chaucerrev.51.2.0131)
16. Samuels, M. L. 1981: Spelling and Dialect in the Late and Post-Middle English Periods. In M. Benskin & M. L. Samuels eds. So Meny People Longages and Tonges: Philological Essays in Scots and Mediaeval English Presented to Angus McIntosh. Edinburgh, Middle English Dialect Project: 43–54. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Samuels%2C+M%2E+L%2E+1981%3A+Spelling+and+Dialect+in+the+Late+and+Post%2DMiddle+English+Periods%2E+In+M%2E+Benskin+%26+M%2E+L%2E+Samuels+eds%2E+So+Meny+People+Longages+and+Tonges%3A+Philological+Essays+in+Scots+and+Mediaeval)
17. Summary Catalogue, Vol 2, Part II. 1937: H. H. E. Craster & N. Denholm-Young. Summary Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, Vol 2, part II (Collections and Miscellaneous Mss Acquired during the Second Half of the 17 th Century), not. 3491–8716. Oxford, Clarendon Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Summary+Catalogue%2C+Vol+2%2C+Part+II%2E+1937%3A+H%2E+H%2E+E%2E+Craster+%26+N%2E+Denholm%2DYoung%2E+Summary+Catalogue+of+Western+Manuscripts+in+the+Bodleian+Library+at+Oxford%2C+Vol+2%2C+part+II+%28Collections+and+Miscellaneous+)
18. Taylor, A. 2003: Manual to Miscellany: Stages in the Commercial Copying of Vernacular Literature in England. The Yearbook of English Studies 33: 1–17. [↗](https://doi.org/10.1353/yes.2003.0023)
19. Warner, L. 2018: Chaucer’s Scribes. London Textual Production, 1384–1432. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Copying strategies of late Middle English scribes [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Warner%2C+L%2E+2018%3A+Chaucer%E2%80%99s+Scribes%2E+London+Textual+Production%2C+1384%E2%80%931432%2E+Cambridge%2C+Cambridge+University+Press%2E+Copying+strategies+of+late+Middle+English+scribes)

*Updated 24 October 2026*