black letter
Old German script
Black letter is a style of heavy, angular typeface based on medieval manuscript writing, with ornate strokes and sharp corners.
Also called Gothic or Old English script, it appears on diplomas, newspaper mastheads, and formal documents seeking an antique feel.
In legal usage, black-letter law refers to well-established principles that are settled and widely accepted: That's black-letter law—no one disputes it.
gothic
Dark, mysterious aesthetic
- calligraphyOrnamental handwriting art
- typefaceLettering style design
- fontCharacter style set
script · blackletter · rotunda · uncial · minuscule · majuscule · serif · ligature · glyph · typeset
strict
Rigorous, without flexibility
- literalMeaning exactly what's said
- rigidUnable to bend
- unambiguousAllowing single interpretation only
explicit · binding · statutory · verbatim · exact · precise · narrow · technical · formal · legalistic
- rare booksGutenberg Bible, first edition, rare editions, rare books, first editions
- early booksincunabula, folios, quartos, octavos, first folio
- early printingmovable type, typography, incunabula, folio, quarto
- Neumespunctum, virga, trigon, liquescent, mora
black letterroman
Upright letter style
serif · sans serif · grotesque · Times New Roman · sans-serif
black letterspirit of the law
A statute's underlying purpose
judicial discretion · case law · natural law · judicial activism
black, letter, blacker, blackest, blacken, blackened, blackening, blackness, blacks