Gothic script

Gothic script is a collective term for all books used from 1200 to app. 1500. That’s the time between the Carolingian minuscule and the Humanist minuscule.

The first universities were created around the 12th – 13th centuries, which lead to an increasing demand for books. The Carolingian minuscule was labour intensive and because of the broad letterforms the page was not optimally utilized on the expensive parchment. The Gothic bookwriting, with a narrower letter, was created. It was developed from the Carolingian minuscule, but more and more abbreviations were used.

The Gothic script survived in the Gothic print and was mainly used in Germany until the twentieth century.