The Roman
Alphabet
& its
Derivatives

The “Round” Wide Letters—0, Q, C, G, D.—

О may be regarded as the Key letter of an
alphabet. Given an О and an I of any
alphabet, we can make a very good guess at the
forms of the other letters.

In fine Inscriptions the external line of О is
commonly an almost perfect circle (see Plate II)
—i.e. its height and width are equal. This may be
regarded as the ideal shape, though a slight widen¬
ing or narrowing of the letter (fig. 157) is quite
permissible.1

ООО

circular, narrower, wider.

ѣіа^тт —

. ; - I Su^stù

: \| the re-wlations of
tlieBsnpwihJMfas.

Fig. 157.

Q, C, G, and D follow the proportions of О

1 Note.—There is less danger of spoiling letters by narrowing
them than by widening, because the limits to the possible narrow¬
ing of a letter are more obvious than the limits to its possible
widening. Further, when letters are widened there is a ten¬
dency to thicken their parts and make them heavy and vulgar.

234

very nearly, and, though C, G, D are a little nar¬
rower, they have the same effect of roundness and
width.

The “Square ” Wide Letters—-M, W, and H,
(U), J, N, T, T, (Z)-

MT T Г Their mean width is properly
“ VV about equal to their height.

H Width equal to, or a little less than, height
(fig. 158), but if made too narrow it would
look heavy, being double-stemmed.

U (see pp. 251, 248) resembles H.

AM £ ~\T are double-stemmed, and have
9 -L 4 9 V internal angles, moreover,
which would become too sharp—and tend to close

&

height equal

narrower.

-Vy

WiHe formsAr'N,&V; anb
dangers of too sharp arises.

Z

z.

narrow^

The Roman
Alphabet
& its
Derivatives

Fig. 158.

235