[yorwba]

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... though executed less perfectly, but that doesn't mean it's not form-over-function.

[tolerance]

I gather that form-over-function is not as binary as I imagine. That and I’m at fault for assuming that because that style of typography was prevalent people enjoyed reading it or found it legible.

Thanks.