Augustine,
Sermons 98.3 (
Patrologia Latina, vol. 38, col. 592; tr. Edmund Hill):
It's like people seeing the letters in a beautifully written codex, and unable to read; they are indeed full of praise for the copyist's hand and the beauty of the letters; but they haven't the slightest idea what those letters mean, what they have to say; they are admiring with their eyes, ignorant in their minds. Others, though, both praise the scribe's artistry and grasp the meaning—namely those who are able not only to see what is available to all, but also to read, which those who haven't learned how to can't do.
Quemadmodum qui videt litteras in codice optime scripto, et non novit legere, laudat quidem antiquarii manum admirans apicum pulchritudinem; sed quid sibi velint, quid indicent illi apices nescit; et est oculis laudator, mente non cognitor: alius autem et laudat artificium, et capit intellectum; ille utique qui non solum videre quod commune est omnibus potest, sed etiam legere; quod qui non didicit, non potest.
Oxford Latin Dictionary, s.v. apex, sense 5:
A mark placed over a vowel to show that it is
long; the tip or angle forming part of a letter.
Lewis & Short,
A Latin Dictionary, s.v. apex, sense D.2:
The forms or outlines of the letters.