The development of the Humanist script is attributed to the Florentine scholar and Renaissance humanist Poggio Bracciollini (1380–1459). As a papal secretary serving under four popes, Poggio was responsible for the rediscovery of several classical Latin manuscripts which he then preserved by copying them in his legible and orderly script.
Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Ms. Ham. 166, f.1r, 1408
In 2005 the Reed College library acquired a manuscript written in a humanistic minuscule. The Beatus vir Psalter and Prayerbook dates from around 1510. The manuscript can be viewed through Reed’s digital archives or make an appointment to visit the archives and see it for yourself.
