“Black Letter” or “Gothic,” still in use as an ornamental letter (fig. [190]), is descended from the fifteenth-century writing of Northern Europe ([Plate XVII.]). A better model may be found in the earlier and more lively forms of twelfth and thirteenth century writing (fig. [191]).
[Fig. 188.]—(See also figs. [125] and [150].)
[Fig. 189.]—(See also Plates [VI.], [XI.], [XXII.], figs. [79] and [84], and p. [420].)
[Fig. 190.]—Ordinary Modern “Black Letter” Type (see p. [331]).
[Fig. 191.]—MS. written by an English Scribe, in 1269, at Mons, in Hainault—Part of Colophon in large text. (B. M. Egerton, MS. 2569. Reduced five-sixths Scale.)
Rightly made, and used, it is one of the most picturesque forms of lettering—and therefore of ornament—and besides its ornamental value, there is still in the popular fancy a halo of romance about “black letter,” which may fairly be taken into account. Its comparative illegibility, however,—due mainly to the substitution of straight for curved strokes—debars it from ordinary use.[89] Though its [p336] distinction in form and colour (p. [327]) from ordinary small lettering, make it useful in arresting attention; as in a legal document, where the clauses are marked by