THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Primer Fraktur in Luther's specimen of 1718 and in Unger's of 1791 looks to me as
though it went back to the last years of the seventeenth century or the very early
years of the eighteenth. There is also a Pica Fraktur in Luther's specimen of Greek
types of 1670 for which matrices afterwards belonged to Joan Blaeu and then to
Dirk Voskens j1 but it is not in the specimen published by Johannes Elsevier in 1658.
Nevertheless, the six German types in his Specimen seem to have come from Luther.
An arithmetic-book by Simon Jacob von Koburgh, printed at Frankfurt in 1574
by the successors to Christian Egenolff, whose business descended to Luther,2
is set in the Pica Fraktur designated by Johannes Elsevier 'Mediaen sive cicero
Germanicum'.
Appreciation of Unger was more besides a printer and typefounder: he was an artist who ex-

unger'sart celled at wood-engraving, an art which he learned from his father. He wrote two
small books on the subject, one on the making of wood-blocks for playing cards,
and one on engraving in wood and metal for the printing trade, which won him
favourable notice. In 1800 he was appointed professor of wood-engraving in the
Akademie der Künste of Berlin. He did not share the contemporary taste in
German lettering, and in 1792 he set about a thorough reform of the Fraktur (fig.
471, p. 373). He left an account of his reasons for doing it, his difficulties and his
final achievement. His booklet is an important document for the history of German
typography in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and I reprint it here entire
(fig. 472, pp. 375—379)- He employed as compositor and punchcutter one Gubitz,
father of the well-known engraver and professor, Wilhelm Gubitz (1786—1870), who
succeeded Unger at the Akademie. With his help and with guidance from the great
Parisian typographer and typefounder, Firmin Didot, Unger strongly influenced
the design of German types, though his own soon passed out of use. For a time
Unger's reputation stood very high: Goethe made more than one approving refer¬
ence to him and Schiller wrote him letters. Unger was the printer of a novel,
Agnes von Lilien, by Schiller's sister-in-law, Katharina von Wolzogen, which for many
years was wrongly attributed to Goethe.

[1] As no specimen by Dirk Voskens is known the refer- [2] Rechenbuch auf den Linien und mit Ziflern e/c. Frankfurt am

enee must be to a specimen of German types by the Widow Main, Christian EgenolfFs Erben, 1574. The typefounding part
and Sons of Dirk Voskens, see List of type-specimens no. 44. of EgenolfFs business, separated from the printing-office in

1572, descended to Luther.

374

$ r 0 b e

einer

neuen Ші ©eutfetjer Settern.

S r f u n b e n

unb

i it Stahl g e f ф n 111 e n

S on

% g. Una er.

S3 e r l i n, 1793.

¿/s roerben jefjf gegen ad)( 3afjr ferjn, als
іф juerff anfing, гпіф mit ber ЗЬее ju be*
fфafп'geп, míe unfrre дегоіфпГіфеп йеиГГфсп
£effern ju üem'nfc^rn, bas иіеГе £rfigr oon
ben gemeinen, unb bas Jïraufe, Qotfyfá)-
ГфпогЕТлфГе Don ben gropen ЭифГіаЬеп ober
ï>erfau'en roegji^affen roâre, oFjne ¡еЬоф ber
Зфг^ Ьигф bíe bamif oorjunetjmenbe 33er*
änberung ein frembarfiges -Qnfetjen ¡и geben.
Эф чефіфге es Di'etfäffig, Зеіфпипдеп
boDon ju тафеп, um деГедепіГіф mit einem
ЗгаБДГфпеіЬег ober Зфп^Гдіе^ег bonifier ш
Гргсфеп; Ьоф peten fie поф immer піф( ju
meiner Sufriebenfjeif aus, Bis іф спЬГіф

gfauBfe, bie Sonnen ber Зеіфпипдеп fo gefrof*
fen ¿и tjaben, bap fie (іф in ber 8ufammenffe[>
[ung gut ausnehmen, ein übereinffimmenbes
ijanje аизтафеп unb bem Лидс einen gefär=
Tigeren ünbtitf barbiefen roiirben. ¿Jerabe
um biefe 3eif roarb іф mit J5rn. Sirmin
Sibüf beFannf. Эф феіГіе фт meine ЭЬее
mit, unb er roar fefjr gefällig bereif, fie aus*
jufütjren, unb meine фт паф unb паф über*
fanbfen gejei^nefen £effern in Sfafjt 5ц
fфпeibeп. £r пефіфГе feine Jñunff an aiïen
оифГгаБеи. Einjefn fфieп jeber für Гіф gut
ausgefallen ¿u fepn; aber jufammen maфfeп
fie, паф meinem £)efüF)[, Fein angenefjmes
¿Janjr aus. Tiun ffrengfe er поф einmaf mit
ип|ад[іфег .Qebutb unb aus Sreuпbfфпff für
тіф, bie іф піф( genug гіфтеп Fann, fein
ganjes Qtme an, meine ЭЬее ¿и erfürten;
allein, fep es, Ъа$ roir uns піф( ganj Dcr=
ffanben, ober bajj er mit bem Schnitte ber

Оеі^феп £effern ju unbeFannf roar, unb
Гіф т'фГ in bie, Эси^феп Дидеп geroôFjnli-
феп Sdjriffjúge oerfefjen Fonnfe: — genug
ber ІЗегГиф mißfang abermats. Лип rooiïfe
іф, гоіешоЬД ungern, bie für тіф fo reifjenbe
£lu5f\rljt, efraas jur TSerbeffening ber Deut-
fфeп £effern beizutragen, DDr[áufig aufgeben,
ab JSerr Si bot mir теГЬеГе: er tjabe in ber
Jiômgtnfjen SiblioftjeF ju paris ein feFjr fфD=
nés írtanufrripf gefetjen, unb feñ geneigt, паф
biefem, unb mit 3ujiet)ung meiner фт ge=
fanbfen Зеіфпипдеп поф eine Эeuffфe SrTjriff
ju ос^ифеп. £r ffjaf es, unb barauf erfolgten
benn bie £effern, bie auf ber Trafen Seife bie*
fer Staffer abgrbrurff finb.

Эф enffjieíf тіф alîes Urftjeife barüber,
ließ einige ilbbrürfe baoon тафеп, unb
fegfe fie ТПаппегп ddu eпffфiebeпem Jïitnff-
деГфтап'е шг. 3f)r Urftjeii fiel eínffim-
mig ungünffig aus, unb es mußte mir

Fig.472. Resetting of J. F. Unger's booklet on modifying German typefaces.
(In the original the line 'neuen Art Deutscher Lettern' is set in a smaller type).

375