Roman lettering or Trajan lettering refers to the use by artists and signwriters of Roman capitals in modern lettering, particularly in Britain.

Around the early twentieth century, British artists in the Arts and Crafts movement led by Edward Johnston began promoting the use of Roman capitals as an attractive, timeless form of letters, suitable for artistic use. Artists who worked in this style included Johnston's pupils Eric Gill, Graily Hewitt, Percy Delf Smith and MacDonald Gill, as well as Reynolds Stone and many other professional signwriters and letter engravers. Roman capitals were used along with lower case and italics in a complementary style.

The style was used on lettering where a feeling of timelessness was wanted, for example on First World War memorials and government buildings, but also on shopfronts, posters, maps and other general uses. The popular name "Trajan" for this style of lettering came from the lettering on the base of the Trajan Column, copies of which were often used (in theory, at least) as models by British lettering artists.

Use

The main source studying the history of Trajan lettering in Britain is Professor James Mosley's 1964 article Trajan Revived; and research by Dr. John Nash and biographers of individual artists.

Roman capitals were one of the main forms of lettering of the ancient world. During the Renaissance, there was considerable interest in Roman capitals, with typefaces based on them. However, in the eighteenth and nineteenth century types and lettering in the Didone or modern serif style tended to a style with sharp contrast in stroke contrast and capitals of near equal width, unlike the Roman capital model of capitals of widely varying width. This was copied into display typefaces and lettering of the time, like fat faces and sans-serifs. 

The use of roman capitals in lettering grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement, which promoted individual craftsmanship and traditional styles of art with respect for the past. On 11 April 1898, the architect and historian William Lethaby offered Edward Johnston a job teaching illuminating and writing at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, and Johnston began to teach classes on 21 September 1899. Johnston rapidly built up a school of pupils very impressed with his work.

According to M. C. Oliver, Lethaby introduced the Trajan's Column inscription to Johnston and as professor of design at the Royal College of Art put casts of the inscription of Trajan's Column as a standard for students to follow. In his textbook Writing and Illuminating and Lettering, Johnston commented "the Roman Capitals have held the supreme place among letters for readableness and beauty. They are the best forms for the grandest and most important inscriptions" and more pithily "when in doubt, use Roman Capitals." Lettering based on Roman capitals rapidly began to appear in many manuals as a model. Nicolete Gray commented that in the early twentieth century "it was taught in all art schools". 

Johnston himself generally did not do monumental and inscription work: he tended to prefer writing and much of his work was creating documents like charters, ornamental record books and certificates. However, his pupils rapidly secured commissions creating lettering in the Roman capital style that was widely used, for example Eric Gill created standard lettering for W. H. Smith used on their storefronts from about 1904.

The lettering used by British artists did not always follow the Roman capital model, often adding changes such as serifs on the top of the 'M' and 'N', and of course the lower case which the Romans did not have.

Modern situation

The Trajan style of lettering has declined in use due to changing tastes, with a desire for new styles of lettering. Additionally, signwriting and lettering in general has declined in use due to the arrival of phototypesetting and desktop publishing, making it possible to print from a computer font at any size. Meanwhile, many lettering artists who do artistic work have switched to other, more expressive and personal styles such as sans-serifs. However, many examples are visible across Britain. James Mosley has argued for the importance and beauty of the "vernacular" lettering styles that Trajan-style lettering tended to replace.

Adobe Systems' digital typeface Trajan by Carol Twombly is one of its most popular typefaces. Several digital fonts specifically based on British artists' use of Trajan lettering have been produced.

Notes

References

Cited literature

Arts and Crafts movement
British design
Latin-script calligraphy
Capitalization
1900s introductions
British art