black letter

noun, Printing.
1.
a heavy-faced type in a style like that of early European hand lettering and the earliest printed books.
.
Also called text.
Origin of black letter
1630-40
Related forms
black-letter, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for black letter

black letter

noun
1.
(printing) another name for Gothic (sense 10)
Word Origin and History for black letter

early 17c., from black (adj.); so called to distinguish heavy, old-style printers' types from the ones coming into use then, which are the dominant modern forms, though a style of black letter was preserved in German into 20c.