Editing R (section)

===Cursive===
[[File:Caslon-specimen-1763-double-pica-black.jpg|thumb|18th-century example of use of ''r rotunda'' in English blackletter typography]]
[[File:Luca Pacioli, De divina proportione, Letter R.jpg|thumb|Letter {{angbr|R}} from the alphabet by [[Luca Pacioli]], in ''[[De divina proportione]]'' (1509)]]

The minuscule form {{angbr|r}} developed through several variations on the capital form.
Along with Latin minuscule writing in general, it developed  ultimately from [[Roman cursive]] via the [[uncial]] script of Late Antiquity into the [[Carolingian minuscule]] of the 9th century.

In handwriting, it was common not to close the bottom of the loop but continue into the leg, saving an extra pen stroke. The loop-leg stroke shortened into the simple arc used in the Carolingian minuscule and until today.

A calligraphic minuscule {{angbr|r}}, known as ''[[r rotunda]]'' {{angbr|ꝛ}}, was used in the sequence {{angbr|or}}, bending the shape of the {{angbr|r}} to accommodate the bulge of the {{angbr|o}} as in {{angbr|oꝛ}}, as opposed to {{angbr|or}}. Later, the same variant was also used where {{angbr|r}} followed other lower case letters with a rounded loop towards the right, such as with {{angbr|b}}, {{angbr|h}}, {{angbr|p}}, as well as to write the geminate {{angbr|rr}} as {{angbr|ꝛꝛ}}. Use of ''r rotunda'' was mostly tied to [[blackletter]] typefaces, and the glyph fell out of use along with blackletter fonts in English language contexts mostly by the 18th century.

[[Insular script]] used a minuscule which retained two downward strokes, but which did not close the loop, known as the ''Insular r'' {{angbr|ꞃ}}; this variant survives in the [[Gaelic type]] popular in Ireland until the mid-20th century, but has become largely limited to a decorative function.