"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."
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By Joris Hoefnagel and Georg Bocskay from 1561-1562 and illumination from 1591-1596. |
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Historia Florentina. By Poggio Bracciolini and Jacopo Bracciolini from 1475. View full text in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
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The Canterbury Tales. By Geoffrey Chaucer from the late 14th century. View full text in the British Library
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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, Gregory MacNaughton from the Cooley Gallery, 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
