A sign/abbreviation for "magister"

[James Kass via Unicode]

Julian Bradfield wrote,

 >> consists of three recognizable symbols.  An "M", a superscript
 >> "r", and an equal sign (= two lines).  It can be printed, handwritten,
 >
 > That's not true. The squiggle under the r is a squiggle - it is a
 > matter of interpretation (on which there was some discussion a hundred
 > messages up-thread or so :) whether it was intended to be = .

I recall Asmus pointing out that the Z-like squiggle was likely a 
handwritten "=" and that there was some agreement to this, but didn't 
realize that it was in dispute.  FWIW, I agree that the squiggle which 
looks kind of like "こ" is simply the cursive, stylistic variant of "=", 
especially when written quickly.

 > Just as it is a matter of interpretation whether the superscript and
 > squiggle were deeply meaningful to the writer, or whether they were
 > just a stylistic flourish for Mr.

A third possibility is that the double-underlined superscript was a 
writing/spelling convention of the time for writing/spelling abbreviations.

Even if someone produced contemporary Polish manuscripts abbreviating 
magister as "Mr", it could be argued that the two writers were simply 
using different conventions.