Gothic Letterforms and Codex Vindobonensis

Authors

  • L. Allen Viehmeyer

Abstract

Traditionally the Gothic bishop Wulfila (c. 311-c. 383) is credited with the development of Gothic alphabetic letters. The Gothic documents which have come down to us from the fifth and early sixth century exhibit letterforms and scribal practices which have led to various hypotheses about the source(s) of the Gothic letterforms. Although the existence of Gothic alphabets in Codex Vindobonensis has been long known, the lack of an adequate appraisal of the alphabets has led to their neglect. An appraisal is offered here which attaches great significance to these alphabets as evidence of an early phase in the development of Gothic letterforms, and hence of prime importance for a derivation of the Gothic alphabet.

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Published

1973-07-01

Issue

Section

Journal Article