Komiteti i shqipëtarëve për lirin’ e Shqipërisë: kanonizmë

Interior page from an Albanian booklet from 1907 titled “The Albanian Committee for the Freedom of Albania: canonism”, featuring a font that appears to be a derivative of Berthold’s Lateinisch.

The Mbrothësia (“Progress”) printing press was the first commercial Albanian printing house, operating from 1896 in Sofia, Bulgaria under the management of Kristo Luarasi. It was using an original Albanian alphabet, based on Latin. Until then, the printing house was using mostly French didones for the letters, but since 1907, the printing house changed to German type, as it seems.

The possible Lateinisch used in the publications is modified to accomodate Albanian sounds like ë, ç, dh, th, sh, zh, xh, gj, ll, rr and dh – eleven in total – with some Greek additions, Slavic, as well as some original letters. It has a more peculiar g of monocular form.

See the complete booklet on the website of the National Library of Albania (BKSH).