Stitches

History of the alphabet?

In the year 1791 why was the J missing from the alphabet when needlework samplers were made?

Public Comments

1. One possibility: "The answer to this is not really clear, however we do know that the letters 'J' and 'U' are relatively new to the English alphabet, having been introduced in the 16th century. The letter 'I' had been used in the place of 'J' before this. An example is the Latin spelling of the boy's name, James, spelt Iacobus. Also bear in mind that Samplers were worked by young children no older than say 12 years old and thus will inherently make mistakes missing out letters."