Construction of Italian Hand Looping Miniscule "x"

The "looping x" is found in both Italian Hand & English Roundhand. Though quite common as a capital letter, it is less commonly seen in minuscule form as demonstrated here.

Though rarely used in body text — the standard ball-lobe form of minuscule 'x' was almost always the choice form body-text — the looping version can be found in many English copybooks of the 1700s. The looping minuscule x appears to have been used more for specialty applications such as titling and ceremonial presentations.

1) Standard Italian Hand small x, the most common form.

2) Looping Italian Hand small x, used for more fancy applications.

3) The shapes comprising the looping x are a conjoining of a small 'e' shape, inverted & upright.

4) Another way of approaching the looping x is to begin as one would commencing a looping 'r', but with the first upstroke bisecting the main stem at the midpoint, then continuing on to form the e-shape. The most difficult aspect is accurately overlapping the stems to form a unified appearance.

5) Historic example of Italian Hand x's from Charles Snell (c. 1712), which shows a looping capital X along with the looping & ball-lobed minuscule forms. The 'n', being what was known as a "leading letter" by penmen of the 15th & 16th centuries, that is to say one of the most fundamental letter-shapes to be learned first, was included to provide scale & proportion.

~April 24, 2016, Don Marsh~
©2016 Don Marsh