Schwabacher

These are the letters of the Reformation
movement of the sixteenth century.
They are early German bâtarde forms
cut in wood for block prints, which ap¬
peared as typefaces from the middle of
the fifteenth century.

The origin of Schwabacher is the
Frankish bâtarde, and it shows clear
evidence of its beginning in woodcuts.
Strong lines and changes between round
and straight forms make it interesting
and legible. There are clear-cut ascen¬
ders and descenders, few ligatures, and a
highly original assembly of capitals.

Use a wide reed or quill, and take a
typeface specimen as a model, but leave
room for changes necessitated by your
pen.

Related to the Schwabacher but less
expressive are the Upper Rhine and
Wittenberg typefaces, both evolved from
the Upper Rhine bâtarde.

Fraktur

A mixture of book textura, bâtarde, and
Schwabacher, fraktur is very decorative
and heavily influenced by Bohemian
chanceries. The minuscules are dense
and appear more precise and differen¬
tiated than those of the Schwabacher.
Forked ascenders are typical. The capital
alphabet is modeled after the form of
the Schwabacher capitals, but it is aug¬
mented with decorative extension strokes
that resemble elephants' trunks, and
refined.

Great masters of fraktur were Leon-
hard Wagner (1457-1522) and Johann
Neudörffer the Elder (1497-1563).
Fraktur was often cut in wood for use in
book titling.

Some of the fraktur types that were in
use during the Renaissance served for
special documents, and later for increas¬
ingly widespread uses. Only some of
them can be mentioned here.

Ш4547890
abcbefgbtjWmnopqte

254 Old Schwabacher (36-point). Genzsch &
Heyse, Hamburg. Typesetting by Andersen Nexö,
Leipzig.

98

255 Variation of Civilité (reduced) by Hermann
Zapf. From Pen and Graver. Alphabets & Pages
of Calligraphy. New York, 1952.

256 Ductus for Schwabacher.

257 Schwabacher. Study by the author.

I

і^)к2ЬиЛ\(іаЬеп \\ahcn "¡апп ¿Anmut,
/лѵепп fie n'mji m\*2in\un unv ¿£)а$і;,
аиа) піЛ\{ m\{ íTíiM^e wii) fcleijj, jomfeni
mil^wiF und¿L\ebe/íjc\ihr\eba\ (іиѵ^Г)

BODONI

Figure 255

Figure 256

Figure 257

# l0

^

сжпрожетшг)

w%x$ 12545Ó7S90

eftimœjryj

99