Editing Uncial script (section)

==Development==
[[File:Evolution of minuscule.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.36|Simplified relationship between various scripts, showing the development of uncial through time.]]
Early uncial script most likely developed from late [[rustic capitals]]. Early forms are characterized by broad single-stroke [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]]s using simple round forms taking advantage of the new [[parchment]] and [[vellum parchment|vellum]] surfaces, as opposed to the angular, multiple-stroke letters, which are more suited for rougher surfaces, such as [[papyrus]]. In the oldest examples of uncial, such as the fragment of ''[[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 30|De bellis macedonicis]]'' in the [[British Library]], of the late 1st–early 2nd centuries,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Papyrus 745 |url=http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Papyrus_745 |last=<!-- not stated --> |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208085742/http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Papyrus_745 |archive-date=2015-12-08 |access-date=2017-04-30 |website=Digitised Manuscripts |publisher=[[British Library]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Beginnings of the Codex |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2015/06/the-beginnings-of-the-codex.html |last=O'Hogan |first=Cillian |date=2015-06-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123083531/https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2015/06/the-beginnings-of-the-codex.html |archive-date=2025-01-23 |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Blog |publisher=[[British Library]]}}</ref> all of the letters are disconnected from one another, and word separation is typically not used. Word separation, however, is characteristic of later uncial usage.

As the script evolved over the centuries, the characters became more complex. Specifically, around AD 600, flourishes and exaggerations of the basic strokes began to appear in more manuscripts. [[Ascender (typography)|Ascenders]] and [[descender]]s were the first major alterations, followed by twists of the tool in the basic stroke and overlapping. By the time the more compact [[Lower case|minuscule]] scripts arose circa AD 800, some of the evolved uncial styles formed the basis for these simplified, smaller scripts. There are over 500 surviving copies of uncial script; by far the larger number of these predate the [[Carolingian Renaissance]]. Uncial was still used, particularly for copies of the [[Bible]], until around the 10th century outside of [[Ireland]]. The [[Insular script|insular]] variant of uncial remained the standard script used to write the [[Irish language]] until the middle of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Robert M. |title=New Hart's Rules: The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors |date=2005 |publisher=OUP Oxford |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |isbn=9780198610410 |page=208 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hcTfCa_sUhEC&dq=insular+script+ireland+20th+century&pg=PA208 |access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref>