The problem is not the use of blackletter, but the narrow spacing and copious use of abbreviations to cram the text into two rectangular columns. That was certa

The problem is not the use of blackletter, but the narrow spacing and copious use of abbreviations to cram the text into two rectangular columns. That was certainly not an unusual goal to have, and you can see the same in handwritten manuscripts https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bible.malmesbury.arp.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bible.malmesbury.arp... though executed less perfectly, but that doesn't mean it's not form-over-function.