Skoropis

Skoropis (Russian: ско́ропись; Ukrainian: ско́ропис, romanized: skoropys) is a type of Cyrillic handwriting script that developed from semi-ustav [ru] in the second half of the 14th century[1] and was used in particular in offices and private office work, from which a modern Russian cursive handwriting developed in the 19th century.

It is characterized by a pronounced calligraphic character, roundness of letters, smoothness of their writing, a large number of strokes, ligatures and abbreviations.

This further complicates the reading of cursive documents and requires specific skills to be acquired by the researcher, mainly from practice.

[2] Initially, the characters were composed mainly of straight lines, as is typical for the cyrillic uncial and semi-ustav.

In the later period, straight lines and curves acquire equilibrium, and letters become more symmetrical and rounded.

Letter of commendation from Ivan IV Vasilyevich to the Solovetsky Monastery (1539).
The postscript of a letter by Alexis of Russia (1657) as a typical example of casual cursive writing of the 17th century.
Record from 1721 about the contribution of Zaporizhian Hetman Ivan Skoropadskyi to the restoration of the Kyiv Pecherska Lavra after it was damaged by fire in 1718, with his signature.