Uses Blackletter was first used in Gutenberg’s Blackletter Bible and from then on they were used ex- tensively as text for books until they decid- Origins - ed not to use Blackletter for body text since Blackletter typeface originated from Caro it was so hard to read. Germany was the last Fraktur country to use Blackletter font for more than lingian miniscule in the 12th century. During the 12th century, Europe as a whole became headings. Used until the 20th century it was increasingly literate during t C D B considered to be antique and fell out he Renaissance. Even - E though Carolingian was leg A of the favor of German de- ible, they needed a font signers. However Hitler Textualisthat wt only legible but Z F Schwabacher determined the ty- able to be quickly C D produced. B E pography that they Y A G were now using F Z to be un-Ger- The name G man like and X Y H declared Gothic The term Gothic H Fraktur, a X was used to form of describe black - I W I Blacklet- letter script W ter, to be in Italy in the midst of the J the peo- J V Renaissance. V ple’s font. K This was be- The Na- cause Human - U zi’s used L K ists believed U Fraktur the font was T M until 1941 barbaric. Blacklet- S when it was ter forms and other L N T R again replaced scripts that seemed O Q to be somewhat bar- P with more read- Textualis M barian were also labeled S able fonts. as Gothic. This was a big In modern day, N contrast to the mother script, R Blackletter is mainly Carolingian miniscule, which was O Q used for headings, posters, lo- believed by the Humanists to be used by P Fraktur the Romans despite the fact that it was invented during gos, etc. It is also used on certificates, the reign of Charlemagne. diplomas and degrees. Blackletter is also used for newspaper nameplates. Blacklet- Blackletter should not be confused with the alphabet of ter has also became heavily associated with the Gothic language nor the sans-serif typefaces that are Textualis beer labels, CD covers for genres such as also called Gothic Schwabacher Fraktur Typefaceheavy metal and gangsta rap. Forms There are many different forms of blackletter but there are three that Black are the most widely known of the forms. Textualis Textualis was the most calligraphic form of blackletter and today is most associated with Gothic. Gutenberg carved a textualis typeface when he printed the bible. Textualis was used in France, England, Germany, and the Low Countries. Some characteristics of Textualis are: •Tall, narrow letters •Sharp, straight angular lines. •The ascenders are vertical and often end sharply Schwabacher Schwabacher was used in early German print typefaces and was used occa- sionally until the 20th century. Some characteristics are: letter •The small letter o is rounded on both sides Typeface •The small letter g has a horizontal stroke at its top. •The capital letter H has a form that looks a little like the small letter h. Fraktur Fraktur became the most common German blackletter typeface by the mid- 16th century. It was used so much that any form of blackletter was often called Fraktur in Germany. Some characteristics are: •The capital letters are compounded of rounded c-shaped or s-shaped strokes. •The left side of the small letter o is formed by an angular stroke, the right side a rounded stroke. At the top and bottom both strokes join in an angle. .