he construction of the small letters, which have
angular and generally acute corners. As in all pen-drawn letters, the broad
lines are made on the down right-sloping strokes, and the narrow lines are
at right angles to these. Blackletter shapes, like those of the Round
Gothic, cannot, as has been said, be defined by any set of general rules;
the intrinsic quality of all Gothic letters almost demands a certain
freedom of treatment that would transgress any laws that could be
formulated. Indeed the individual forms should always be subservient to the
effect of the line or page. Observe in almost every example shown how the
form of the same letter constantly varies in some minor detail. The drawing
by Albrecht Duerer, reproduced in 144, will, [134] however, serve to show
the construction of an excellent Blackletter, which may fairly be
considered as typical.

[Illustration: 145. GERMAN BLACKLETTERS. FROM MANUSCRIPTS]

[Illustration: 146. GERMAN BLACKLETTERS WITH ROUNDED ANGLES]

The first essential of a good Blackletter line or page is that it shall be
of a uniform color. Unlike the Roman, the Blackletter form does not permit
that one word be wider spaced than others in the same panel. The amount of
white left between the several letters should be as nearly as possible the
same throughout, approximately the same as the space between the
perpendicular strokes of the minuscule letters themselves. Usually, the
less the white space the better will be the general effect of the page, for
its beauty depends much upon a general blackness of aspect;--and let it be
noted in passing that, for this reason, it is doubly difficult to judge of
the final effect of a Blackletter page from any outlined pencil sketch.
Even in the cases of those capital letters that extend both above and below
the guide lines it will be found possible to so adjust the spaces [135] and
blacks as not to interrupt the general uniformity of color, and it is
sometimes advisable to fill awkward blanks by flourishes; although
flourishing, even in Blackletter, is an amusement that should be indulged
in cautiously. As a general rule the more solidly black a panel of
Blackletter is the better (a principle too often disregarded in the modern
use of the form); though on the other hand, the less legible the individual
letters will become. The designer should therefore endeavor to steer a
middle course, making his panel as black as he can without rendering the
individual