Use this palaeographic utility to apply a stated dating, script, abbreviation, codicological, metrological, layout, or condition rule consistently while preparing manuscripts for scholarly review.

Cluster means

One mean measurement per proposed hand (e.g. mean x-height).

Within std

Positive pooled within-hand standard deviation of that measurement.

Test whether proposed hands are plausibly distinct under the stated rule: report the population variance and coefficient of variation of the per-hand means, the smallest gap between neighbouring means divided by the pooled within-hand standard deviation, and treat gaps of at least two standard deviations as distinct hands. The tool evaluates the supplied inputs together and returns the named outputs below; it does not infer omitted operating conditions or change the units shown.^[1]

Between variance

Population variance across the cluster means.

CV %

Coefficient of variation of the means in percent.

Min gap / std

Smallest neighbouring-means gap over pooled within std.

Distinct hands

True when every neighbouring gap is at least two within-stds.

• Script and manuscript evidence varies by language, region, institution, period, scribe, material, restoration, and cataloguing convention. A heuristic flag or score is not an authoritative date, hand attribution, reading, provenance, or conservation diagnosis.
• Use finite inputs in the displayed units and preserve more precision than the final presentation requires. Independently verify safety-critical, financial, compliance, or production decisions.

Retain page images, scale, foliation, material, provenance, diplomatic transcription, uncertainty, and comparison exemplars; confirm conclusions with codicological context and specialist judgment.

• Batarde Mix Proportion Calculator

  Compute the textualis-versus-cursiva proportions of a batardesque hand and classify the mix under the stated heuristic: shares within 20 percentage points of each other are balanced, otherwise the larger share dominates.

• Nib / X-height Consistency Checker

  Check that repeated x-height measurements agree within tolerance under the stated rule: spread is (max-min)/mean in percent and the hand counts as consistent when spread does not exceed the tolerance (default 10%).

• Scribe Change Detector

  Flag a possible change of scribe under the stated rule: each metric (line spacing, letters per line) is compared by the symmetric percent deviation |a-b|/mean(a,b)*100, and a deviation above tolerance (default 5%) on either metric flags a change.