"Black letter, also called Gothic script or Old English script, in calligraphy, a style of alphabet that was used for manuscript books and documents throughout Europe—especially in German-speaking countries—from the end of the 12th century to the 20th century. It is distinguished by a uniform treatment of vertical strokes that end on the baseline (e.g., in b or l), the use of angular lines instead of smooth curves and circles (e.g., for b, d, o, or p), and the fusion of convex forms when they occur together."
 |
By Joris Hoefnagel and Georg Bocskay from 1561-1562 and illumination from 1591-1596. |
 |
Historia Florentina. By Poggio Bracciolini and Jacopo Bracciolini from 1475. View full text in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
|
 |
The Canterbury Tales. By Geoffrey Chaucer from the late 14th century. View full text in the British Library
|
Email, call, or visit the library for more in-depth help with your questions!
This guide was initially created by library graduate students at Emporia State University: Amy Stewart, Bentley Clark, and Joella Finch. Special thanks to Gregory MacNaughton and the Reed College Special Collections staff.
This work by the Reed College Library is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY Attribution 4.0 International License.
Reed College Library | Email: library@reed.edu | Phone: 503-777-7702 | 3203 Southeast Woodstock Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97202-8199
