Figures [177] to [179] show some English Gothic letters, the last being that employed so effectively in the pen-drawn page by Mr. Abbey, [153]. Figures [180] to [184] illustrate various forms of Blackletter: [180] is from a German brass, [182] illustrates an Italian pen form, and [183] and [184] show
Blackletters drawn by Albrecht Dürer, the latter being the simplest and strongest variant in this style. It is the same letter that is employed to show Blackletter construction in diagram [144]. Figure [185] shows the well-known and unusually beautiful initials designed by Dürer. Figure [186] is a Blackletter from an English brass, although the letter forms in this example, as well as those of many other English brasses, may perhaps have been derived from Flanders, as many of the finest early Continental brasses were imported from the Netherlands.
The Italian forms of Gothic Blackletters are generally too fussy and finikin to be of practical value for modern use, though they often possess suggestive value. The letters shown in [182] are fairly typical of the characteristic Blackletter minuscules of Italy. Figure [187] exhibits an example of beautiful lettering in the Italian style, redrawn from a rubbing of an inlaid floor-slab in Santa Croce, Florence. The omission of capitals in long, confined lines is typical of many Blackletter inscriptions, as may be seen in [149], as well as in the plate just mentioned.
In view of the number of fine specimens of Blackletter which have been handed down to us, it has been deemed
unnecessary to reproduce many examples of its employment by modern draughtsmen. The pages by Mr. Goodhue, [188]-9, have already been referred to; and figure [150] shows a very consistent and representative use of similar letter forms by the same designer. Figures [190] and [191] illustrate two modern varieties of Blackletter, one very simple and the other very ornate. The small cuts, [151] and [152], show excellent modern Blackletters; the first, of unusually narrow form, being by Herr Walter Puttner, and the second, with its flourished initials, by Herr Otto Hupp.
