A history of alphabets from around the world
|
A history of alphabets from around the world | |
|
The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering by Frederic W. Goudy Chapter 5: Letters Before Printing, page 2 The square capital has persisted in the lines and the proportions crystallized in its earliest use; it is the monumental letter, simple and direct and bold. The capitals inscribed on the base of the Trajan Column at Rome are as legible to our eyes as if carved but yesterday instead of more than eighteen hundred years ago. [See the Arch of Titus, erected at Rome in the first century of the Christian Era, set in "Forum" capitals, a typeface based on the ancient lapidary characters.] Each of the full-page plates, pp. 105 ff., shows a large letter from the Trajan Column. The uncial form [described in chapter iii] was of fewer lines and more rounded than the rustic, which the copyists found somewhat difficult to execute easily, although even this latter style of letter was composed of fewer strokes than the square capital. The uncial is important to us principally because it helps to explain a later form widely different from the original square capital. Uncials made their appearance in Italy about the second century, but came into general use in the fourth. They were based mainly on the square capitals, were very simple in form, and indicate clearly the firm use of a soft reed or quill pen. Uncials are typically pen-drawn capitals & differ from capitals only in the letters A, D, E, G, H, M, T, Q, and V. None have been found that are more than five-eighths of an inch in height, although the name is derived from uncia, an inch. Paleographers call them "majuscules," that is, large letters. The nature of the uncial form does not permit it to be made very small, or rather, perhaps, if it is made small it ceases to be an uncial; in the oldest books many were so large that comparatively few could find place even on a large page. This waste of space and the increasing difficulty in procuring parchment compelled a reduction in the size of characters used. The illustration shows some Roman uncials of the seventh century; note the letters A, D, E, H, and M, which differ most from the original models. Compare also with the rustic capitals of the fifth century [fig. 17]. Continue to page 3 |
The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering by Frederic W. Goudy Introduction What Letters Are Letters in General The Development of the Roman Capital Letters Before Printing The National Hands The Development of Gothic The Beginnings of Types The Qualities of Lettering Some Practical Considerations Notes on the Plates |