Old English Text - Black-letter Typesetting

Black-letter Typesetting

While an antiqua typeface is usually compound of roman types and italic types since the 16th-century French typographers, the black-letter typefaces never developed a similar distinction. Instead, they use letterspacing (German sperren) for emphasis. When using that method, black-letter ligatures like ch, ck, tz or ſt remain together without additional letterspacing (ſt is dissolved, though). The use of bold text for emphasis is also alien to black-letter typefaces.

Words from other languages, especially from Romance languages including Latin, are usually typeset in antiqua instead of black letter. Like that, single antiqua words or phrases may occur within a black-letter text. This does not apply, however, to loanwords that have been incorporated into the language.