Let's start at the very beginning...

During the first session of the Foundation Degreee in Calligraphy, we have been learning about Roman Capitals. Studying in particular the classical letters in the inscription on Trajan's Collumn. These letters are pretty much the starting point for any reference or study of calligraphy, or typography for that matter. They are considered to be the finest example of Roman Capitals, and although there are others, these are the ones we are basing our study on, and which I will be exploring and disecting over the coming weeks.
It feels rather strange coming back to these Trajan letters, because this was actually my own starting point for design and typography forty years ago! My art teacher, Bob Lightfoot, trained us pupils in calligraphy. Girls practised sloping Italics and boys did Roman Caps. I realised some years ago that Bob must have been a pupil of Leonard Evetts at Kings College (now Newcastle University), as I remembered him wearing the KC blazer and badge! Evetts was not only a pre-eminent stained glass designer, but also a master letterer and calligrapher. He wrote books about the Trajan inscription, and his definitive book 'Roman Lettering' was the one we boys used in our art classes.

It is nice to think of the continuity there... Evetts researching the Trajan and presumably learning it from someone (perhaps a pupil of Edward Johnston?...note to self...must look into this!), Bob Lightfoot learning from him...and me learning from Bob. I can say with all honesty that this teaching sparked a flame in me which resulted in me studying typography and design forty years ago, and also finds me carving out time to study calligraphy more seriously at this time. [to be continued]