etter adapted to many
modern uses, is shown in 18 and 19. In this case the original letters were
cut about seven and [27] one-half inches high. The letters in 20 are
curiously modern in character. Part of the panel of Roman lettering shown
in 21 exhibits the use of a form very like that shown in 18 and 19. Figure
11 shows a detail composed in a quite representative fashion; while on the
other hand figure 12 depicts a Roman letter of quite unusual character, and
of a form evidently adapted from pen work, in which the shapes are narrow
and crowded, while the lines are thickened as though they were of the
classical square outline. The bits of old Roman inscriptions shown in 8 to
10 and in 13 are included to exhibit various different forms and treatments
of classic capitals.

[Illustration: 13. ROMAN CAPITALS FROM INSCRIPTIONS. FROM RUBBINGS. F.C.B.]

[Illustration: 14. MODERN INCISED ROMAN CAPITALS IN SANDSTONE.
ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.]

[Illustration: 15. LETTERS SHOWN IN ALPHABET 1-2, IN COMPOSITION. ALBERT R.
ROSS]

[Illustration: 16. CLASSIC CAPITALS CUT IN MARBLE. ROMAN FORUM. F.C.B.]

[Illustration: 17. CLASSIC CAPITALS CUT IN MARBLE. ROMAN FORUM. F.C.B.]

[Illustration: 18. CLASSIC CAPITALS CUT IN MARBLE. FROM RUBBINGS. F.C.B.]

[Illustration: 19. CLASSIC CAPITALS CUT IN MARBLE. FROM RUBBINGS. F.C.B.]

[Illustration: 20. PORTION OF ROMAN INSCRIPTION WITH SUPPLIED LETTERS.
F.C.B.]

[Illustration: 21. CLASSIC ROMAN INSCRIPTION IN MARBLE FROM A RUBBING.
F.C.B.]

[Illustration: 22. CLASSIC ROMAN INSCRIPTION IN STONE FROM A RUBBING.
F.C.B.]

After the fall of Rome and during the Dark Ages the practice of lettering,
at least in so far as the Roman form was concerned, was distinctly
retrograde. With the advent of the Renaissance, however, the purest classic
forms were revived; and indeed the Italian Renaissance seems to have been
the golden age of lettering. With the old Roman fragments of the best
period constantly before their eyes the Renaissance artists of Italy seem
to have grasped the true spirit of classicism; and their work somehow
acquired a refinement and delicacy lacking in even the best of the Roman
examples. As much of the Italian Renaissance lettering was intended for use
on tombs or monuments where it might be seen at close range, and was cut in
fine marble, the increased refinement may be due, at least in part, to
different conditions.

[Illustration: 23. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE I