The shift to Germany | Textura

The evolution of the Textura typeface began in Germany in 1200. Also known as Gothic bookhand, Textura is recognized by its tall, narrow, black letters that somewhat resembles woven fabric and is similar to the calligraphic form of black letter. The highest form of Textura was used for precious manuscripts. The usual form was used for literary works and university texts. The third form of Textura was the cursive form and used in textual glasses as well as less important books. Overall, this form of cursive typeface was difficult to read and not well favored, however legibility was not of concern. Due to the heavy condensed handwriting style of Textura, about twice as many characters as its predecessor, Carolingian, could fit into the same amount of small space.

Johannes Gutenberg used this movable typeface when he printed his first 42-line Bible in the 1450’s. Within the next decade, Johann Mentelin and Heinrich Eggestein, two printers from Strasbourg picked up on this trend and began printing their own Textura-style type. When William Caxton, the first printer in England, learned the craft of printing in Germany, he bought Flemish equipment adopting the Textura type in his books.

It became evident at this time that printing was no longer a secret and Gutenberg was to thank for encouraging the recognition and spread of movable type. He acknowledged that the invention of printing would revolutionize the world. His reaction to this epidemic led him to teach and train workers in the new art in order to make books accessible at reasonable costs. His goal was to promote learning across Germany and in doing this; the Textura typeface was spread across Europe.

Around the year 1470, Nicolas Jenson, a fellow type master who had worked with Gutenberg created the Roman typeface. The elegance and simplicity of this type was widely accepted and European craftsmen began to adapt their type to match the kind of lettering their consumers preferred. This marked the beginning of the end for Textura. Today, Textura is rarely seen outside of German speaking countries other than on newspapers, banknotes, and college diplomas.