A Brief Introduction To

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Blackletter, also
known as Gothic
script, Gothic
minuscule, was a
script used
throughout
Western Europe
from 1150 until
the 17th century.
Sometimes, It’s The original Blackletter typeface from the Gutenberg Bible
also referred to
as Old English.

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Carolingian minuscule was the ancestor of blackletter. the script’s letter were
wide, and large documents were labour-intensive and time-consuming to
produc. Carolingian, though legible, consumed a lot of space in a time when
writing materials were very costly, while 12th-century Europe required new
books in many different subjects in a large number.

THE ORIGINAL CAROLINGIAN

MINUSCULE SCRIPT

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 As time passed, the script continued to evolve. The letters become
tighter, thicker and use fewer ligatures. The script was becoming
less calligraphic and more mechanical in many ways, and thus, lead
to the birth of Blackletter, a much more efficient script.

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 Textualis
Textualis, also known
as textura, was the
most calligraphic fom of
blackletter.
- Tall, narrow letters, as
compared to their
Carolingian counterparts.
- Letters formed by sharp,
straight, angular lines, unlike
the typically round
Carolingian.
- Ascenders (in letters such
as ⟨b⟩, ⟨d⟩, ⟨h⟩) are vertical
and often end in sharp finals.

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 Schwabacher
- The small letter ⟨o⟩ is
rounded on both sides,
though at the top and at the
bottom, the two strokes join
in an angle. Other small
letters have analogous
forms.
- The small letter ⟨g⟩ has a
horizontal stroke at its top
that forms crosses with the
two downward strokes.
- The capital letter ⟨H⟩ has
a peculiar form somewhat
reminiscent of the small
letter ⟨h⟩.

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 Fraktur
- The left side of the small
letter ⟨o⟩ is formed by an
angular stroke, the right
side by a rounded stroke.
At the top and at the
bottom, both strokes join in
an angle. Other small
letters have analogous
forms.
- The capital letters are
compound of rounded ⟨c⟩-
shaped or ⟨s⟩-shaped
strokes.

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Perhaps one of the
most well-known
uses of blackletter
was for
The Gutenberg
Bible (also known
as the 42-line
Bible, the Mazarin
Bible or the B42). It
marked the start of
the “Gutenberg
Revolution" and the
age of printed
books in the West.
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 For hundreds of years, it was the dominant typeface
of Western Europe. It was used for books
of business, law, grammar, history and other pursuits,

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And even till today, it still has its uses.

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