CHAPTER VIII

SOME HISTORICAL EXAMPLES OF ROMAN LETTERING

The examples given in this chapter do not pretend to be, in any way, a complete series of alphabets of Roman lettering. To go into this matter properly would require far more space than is available here. If, however, sufficient interest is aroused to encourage the student to study the subject for himself, it will be worth while dealing briefly with the subject here.

One of the most important alphabets is that used in the inscription on the base of the Trajan Column (circa 114 A.D.). To help the student to form these letters in their proper proportions, each letter has been enclosed in a square (See Figs. 17-22). This should be a great help in determining the correct form of the different letters. For example, take the letter O; this is not quite a circle, as is shown plainly by placing the letter in a square. In the case of the W, as this is larger than the other letters, this has been placed in two squares.

As the alphabet from this inscription is incomplete, suitable forms have been suggested for H, K, Y, and Z. Also additional letters have been given for J, U, and W, which are necessary in modern usage.

This alphabet is extremely beautiful, and for important inscriptions it is hardly possible to find a better model. The student is advised to make a careful study of this alphabet.

When using this alphabet for writing an inscription it is not a bad plan to make a small cardboard gauge giving the width of the different letters in proportion to the height decided upon. A small gauge like this is very easily constructed and should be a great help in quickly spacing the letters. For example, it may be noted that the letters C, D, G, H, K, M, N, O, Q, U and Z nearly fill the square, while A, R, T, V come next in size. B, X, and Y are slightly narrower, while the letter P is a shade less than these. L and S are still slightly less in width, and E and F are the most narrow of all the letters, excepting, of course, I and J. If these various widths are marked on the edge of a small strip of card it ought to be quite an easy matter to space these letters quickly.

The first alphabet shown in Fig. 20 (_a_) is a free rendering from a thirteenth-century inscription in the Church of St. Ursula, Cologne. As the alphabet was incomplete it has been completed, so that it may be used without any difficulty arising through any of the letters being missing.

The next one is from an inscription of the early part of the fourteenth century (_b_).

A late fifteenth-century alphabet is given in (_c_), which is taken from an inscription in niello on a silver plaque fitted to a reliquary. This is Italian and is dated 1496.

The alphabets of capitals and minuscules shown in Fig. 21 are of special interest to the illuminator. These are based on the writing used in a late fifteenth-century illuminated MS. now in the British Museum, St. Augustine’s “City of God” (Add. MS. 15246). These letters are formed with quite simple strokes of the pen. In this MS. the _f_-shaped minuscule _s_ is used. In the alphabet given here this has been substituted by one more in keeping with the modern type of letter, and several letters have been added to make the alphabet complete. The student is strongly advised to study the lettering in this MS. for himself. It makes a very effective script if written fairly small with a crisply-cut pen.

Some further alphabets are shown in Fig. 22. The lettering from which the alphabet is taken that is shown in (_a_) is from a title-page from “Utopia et Mori et Erasmi Epigrammata,” dated 1518. It has woodcut borders and title-pages by Holbein. This style of letter is used throughout the book for headings, etc. It is undoubtedly a very fine type of letter and is worthy of careful study. As has been the case in the other alphabets, this alphabet has been completed by adding letters of approximate form to supply the missing ones.

The next alphabet, given in (_b_), is taken from an inscription in marble on the monument of the Marchese Spinetta Malaspina (d. 1352), relating to its re-erection in the Church of San Giovanni in Sacco at Verona in 1536.

The last one shown here, in (_c_), is from an inscription on the marble monument of Filippo Decio (d. 1535), in the Campo Santo, Pisa, by Stagio Stagi (d. 1563).

Of course, numerous other examples might be given, but sufficient have been shown to enable the student to study the subject further if he so desires. There are numbers of reproductions from old inscriptions and MSS. easily obtainable.

In studying these alphabets the student will find that it is not a bad plan, after forming the letters with a pen as described in the preceding chapter, to use a brush as also suggested there. He should then endeavour to form them fairly large, working straight away with the brush. A good brush for this purpose is a sable “writer,” such as is commonly used by sign-writers. Dexterity with this type of brush is to a great extent merely a matter of practice. In fact, as has been insisted on repeatedly throughout this book, practice, and plenty of it, will do more than anything else towards making the student efficient.

When studying this subject further the student should note especially the manner in which the letters are arranged in the various inscriptions, as a great deal depends upon the arrangement of the letters and words.