Renaissance Typeface: Blackletter
Owen Davis
As students of the University of Delaware we were privileged to have access to original source texts from the 16th century and work closely with them. During my time at the University revolving around these 16th century historical chronicles, I have developed an appreciation for the font and grammar use within the different source texts. Blackletter is the name of the “font” that was used in 16th century printing. When trying to understand blackletter along with old English, you have to take a deep breath. Honestly, in the middle of our course, we were given an assignment to transcribe two pages within Holinshed.
On first glance, I decided that it was impossible; utterly, and completely, impossible. But, as I started my transcription and read through the text, I realized it wasn’t hard at all. Granted, the print quality does get sloppy, letters being set too close together and morphing a word until it is practically illegible at times but not always, since it paid for printers to be skilled in their practice. Smudged typeface aside, the most challenging difference to get used to was the grammar. This was due to the printer frequently changing words within the text to fit his own demands. For example, the spelling of Chief was often changed in these instances. Different alterations were as follows: Chiefe, Chieffe, Cheefe, and Chieff. Another common change from what we are used to is the use of the ending -ained. For example, Gained would change to Geined, and Chained would change to Cheined.
Getting used to the different spellings and readings of words was the biggest challenge for us at the beginning, and I know it will also be the biggest challenge for anyone who is newly introduced to blackletter. Instead of the confusing font being the main issue as one might expect, differentiating grammar and printing preferences end up being more of an overarching issue. Trying to sound out a word that seems hard to read is one of the best ways to grasp it. After you start to gain an understanding of the grammar usage, blackletter and old English becomes a breeze, and enjoyable to work with.
On first glance, I decided that it was impossible; utterly, and completely, impossible. But, as I started my transcription and read through the text, I realized it wasn’t hard at all. Granted, the print quality does get sloppy, letters being set too close together and morphing a word until it is practically illegible at times but not always, since it paid for printers to be skilled in their practice. Smudged typeface aside, the most challenging difference to get used to was the grammar. This was due to the printer frequently changing words within the text to fit his own demands. For example, the spelling of Chief was often changed in these instances. Different alterations were as follows: Chiefe, Chieffe, Cheefe, and Chieff. Another common change from what we are used to is the use of the ending -ained. For example, Gained would change to Geined, and Chained would change to Cheined.
Getting used to the different spellings and readings of words was the biggest challenge for us at the beginning, and I know it will also be the biggest challenge for anyone who is newly introduced to blackletter. Instead of the confusing font being the main issue as one might expect, differentiating grammar and printing preferences end up being more of an overarching issue. Trying to sound out a word that seems hard to read is one of the best ways to grasp it. After you start to gain an understanding of the grammar usage, blackletter and old English becomes a breeze, and enjoyable to work with.