Monument lettering
Lettering was the part of the monument every visitor read and every customer paid for by the letter. The period sources treat it as both a trade skill and an art. On one side are Wyckoff’s practical chapters on whiting, chisels and the pneumatic tool. On the other are Robert L. Cook’s essays on letterform, spacing and composition, with designers in Granite, Marble & Bronze insisting that good lettering could redeem a plain stone.
A connected reading path
Section titled “A connected reading path”- Begin with inscription design to establish a text field.
- Study how the broad-edged pen shapes a stroke, then follow Johnston’s practice sequence from stroke to page before comparing pen and carved forms in Roman letters.
- Move from forms to a text field with Day’s inscription-composition lesson, then see how he shapes a ribbon label around its words; Johnston’s inscription layout shows hierarchy in a finished block.
- Follow text into ornament through Johnston’s illuminated initials and borders, then compare Page’s continuous-line foliage with the measured leaves and scrolls in acanthus drawing.
Preparing and laying out
Section titled “Preparing and laying out”Cutting the letters
Section titled “Cutting the letters”- Letter cutting with the pneumatic tool
- Hand-cut lettering
- Sunk letters
- Raised letters
- Lettering in marble
- Metal lettering in Day’s examples
- Lettering in the cemetery
- Sandblast lettering
Letterforms
Section titled “Letterforms”- Practice a formal hand from stroke to page
- Roman letters
- Optical corrections in lettering
- Letter spacing
- Join adjacent letters with care
- Gothic and Old English letters
- Blackletter construction, spacing and page color
- Monumental alphabets
Composing inscriptions
Section titled “Composing inscriptions”- Inscription design
- Plan the inscription before its frame
- Enlarge a panel without changing its proportions
- Design the label for its words
- Family name
- Headstone inscriptions
Monograms and letter devices
Section titled “Monograms and letter devices”Decorative drawing and ornament
Section titled “Decorative drawing and ornament”- Acanthus leaves and running scrolls
- Draw foliage in a continuous line
- Illuminated initials and borders
Finishing and repair
Section titled “Finishing and repair”Typefaces from the sources
Section titled “Typefaces from the sources”Wyckoff Colonial is a digital font traced from one of the alphabet plates in The Manual of Monumental Lettering.
Sources
Section titled “Sources”Citation keys are explained on the Sources & citations page. For modern training and external historical resources, see Further reading.