The Nazis extolled the nationalist virtues of writing with the Germanic gothic letter. But gothics are not entirely tainted by the association. There is much beauty in the forms, and skill is needed to make them. So, let’s begin. If you can find the pen nibs below, you can print out the grids found here (or better yet, get your own graph paper) and start the DIY Gothic Writing Exercise (or DIYGWE). The creator of this method (c. 1945), Herr Friedrich Heinrichsen, makes being a gothic scribe as easy as one, two, three . . . four, five, six . . . seven, eight. But you’ll feel accomplished, for sure.
The series of which this Gotische Schrift buch is a part is good for school, home, and “handwerk.”
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For more essays on typography, check out Steven Heller’s Texts on Type, which contains more than 50 important writings about the history, aesthetics, and practice on type design. And if you don’t have one already, be sure to order a copy of Alex W. White’s Thinking in Type: The Practical Philosophy of Typography.