The eternal letter : two millennia of the classical Roman capital /
Two milennia of the classical Roman capital
edited by Paul Shaw.
- viii, 258 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 30 cm.
- Codex studies in letterforms .
- Codex studies in letterforms. .
Includes bibliographical references.
The eternal letter: the fluctuating fortunes of the classical Roman capital / Defining th eclassical Roman capital / Father Edward M. Catich and the Trajan inscription / The Genetrix / The Trajan secrets / Walter Kaech, craftsman / On the origin of capital proportions in Roman type / Felice Feliciano and the inscriptions on the Macello of Verona / The tomb of Niccolo Forteguerri / The Baroque inscriptional letter in Rome / The Baroque set / Goudy's inscriptional letters / Eric Gill's capital letter / Jan van Krimpen and Roman capitals / Hermann Zapf's Roman capitals: an appreciation / The Trajan letter in Russia / Gill's legacy / Straight, no chaser: the work of Micheal Harvey / The John Stevens shop: three generations of lettercarvers / Penumbra: the offspring of Trajan and Futura / Father Catich at Reed College / Democratizing the empire: the birth of Adobe Trajan / Trajan revived redux / Artist of the written word / The origins of Senatus / Mantinia / Requiem: a true renaissance letter / Waters tilting / Typefaces with classical Roman influences: 1900-2012 -- Trajan at the movies / Learning from chairs / Census of Trajan inscription reproductions -- Selected collections of Roman inscriptions -- Further reading on Roman capitals -- Recording inscriptions: methods and tips. Paul Shaw -- Paul Shaw -- Paul Shaw -- Father Edward M. Catich -- Tom perkins -- Jost Hochuli -- Frank E. Blokland -- James Mosley -- Paul Shaw and Garret Boge -- James Mosley -- Garret Boge -- Steve Matteson -- Ewan Clayton -- Martin Majoor -- Paul Shaw -- Maxim Zhukov -- Ewan Claytin -- Paul Shaw -- Richard Kindersly -- Lance Hindy -- Gregory MacNaughton -- Scott-Martin Kosofsky -- Paul Shaw, Maxim Zhukov, Gerry Leonidas -- Paul Shaw -- Werner Schnider with Dan Reynolds -- Matthew Carter -- Jonathan Hoefler -- Julian Waters -- Yves Peters -- Cyrus Highsmith --
"The fiftieth anniversary of Helvetica, the most famous of all sans serif typefaces, was celebrated with an excitement unusual in the staid world of typography and culminated in the release of the first movie ever made starring a typeface. Yet Helvetica's fifty-year milestone pales in comparison with the two thousandth anniversary in 2014 of Trajan's Column and its famous inscription-the preeminent illustration of the classical Roman capital letter. For, despite the modern ascendance of the sans serif, serif typefaces, most notably Times Roman, still dominate printed matter and retain a strong presence in screen-based communication. The Eternal Letter is a lavishly illustrated examination of the enduring influence of, and many variations on, the classical Roman capital letter. The Eternal Letter offers a series of essays by some of the most highly regarded practitioners in the fields of typography, lettering, and stone carving. They discuss the subtleties of the classical Roman capital letter itself, different iterations of it over the years, and the work of famous typographers and craftsmen. The essays cover such topics as efforts to calculate a geometric formulation of the Trajan letters; the recalculation of their proportions by early typefounders; the development and astonishing popularity of Adobe Trajan; type and letter designs by Father Edward M. Catich, Frederic W. Goudy, Eric Gill, Jan van Krimpen, Hermann Zapf, Matthew Carter, and others; the influence of Trajan in Russia; and three generations of lettercarvers at the John Stevens Shop in Newport, Rhode Island. Essays about modern typefaces-including Matinia, Senatus, and Penumbra-are contributed by the designers of these typefaces."--Publisher's website.