Today is the nine hundredth yahrtzeit of Rashi, who died on 29 Tammuz 4865. (not sure what origin of the picture is, but it's a depiction of Rashi that I've been seen for years)
Who can adequately say anything about Rashi? Since there is nothing I can add, I will just quote something only tangentially related from the 1906 edition of the Jewish Encyclopedia
When printing was introduced, the selection of a style of type depended upon the same conditions as in the case of the execution of manuscripts. Square or block letters were cast for biblical and other important works; in the various countries different models for letters were often followed; one form was preferred at one time, another at another; however, the style selected by the Ashkenazim prevailed and maintained its preeminence over all the others. Books of a secondary character, works which accompanied another text, such as commentaries and the like, were printed in the cursive; and here a style of type became popular which very closely resembled the Hispano-African cursive Since the script occurs oftenest in commentaries on the Bible and the Talmud by Rashi, it has become known as the Rashi script.
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