Thread by @incunabula

A full-size rubbing of the Trajan's Column inscription on two sheets, one of 9 sets made by Father Edward Catich in Rome in February 1970.

The Trajan inscription is regarded as the finest example of Roman lapidary capitals, by far the most influential "typeface" in history. 1/2

Over the next few weeks I'll post closeup images here of every part of the inscription from this set of rubbings, showing the letters in all their majestic detail, from SENATVS (top left) to EGESTVS (bottom right).

None of these images have previously appeared online. 2/2

Edward Catich (1906-79) was an American RC priest, teacher and calligrapher. During the 50s and 60s, he made many trips to Rome to explore the use of Roman capitals, which he believed owed their characteristic shape to the use of a flat brush rather than the stonecutter's chisel.

Catich's work on stroke kinetics established our current understanding that these letters were NOT designed by geometric calculation (as was & still is widely believed) but were the artistic product of a flat, flexible brush: they were painted first, then carved by a stonecutter.

In support of this theories, Catich made direct rubbings of the Trajan inscription - as a Roman Catholic priest he was able to obtain special permission to do so when in Rome.

The Trajan font introduced by Adobe in 1989 is derived directly from Catich's work and these rubbings.

The Trajan's Column inscription is set above the door on the pedestal. The text is huge - carved on a marble panel 2.81 wide and 1.04m high.

Corrosive pollution in Rome over the last 50 years has made the lettering less clear today than shown in Catich's rubbings made in 1970.

Because of the size of the inscription, each set of Catich rubbings includes two sheets, one for the upper 3 lines of text, and a second for the lower 3 lines.

Here is the first close-up photo (not previously published or online) of the top left portion of the upper 3 lines.

And here are high res versions of 3 complete words (one abbreviated) from this first portion of the Trajan inscription:

SENATVS
IMP
TRAIANO

These are the first 3 lines of the Trajan's Column inscription, with the abbreviated words expanded (and shown in lower case):

SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS / IMPeratori CAESARI DIVI NERVAE FilioNERVAE / TRAIANO AVGusto GERManico DACICO PONTIFici

These first three lines of the inscription present no interpretation problems (unlike the last line, as we shall see later):

The Senate and the People of Rome to the Emperor, Caesar Nerva, son of the deified Nerva, Traianus Augustus, Germanicus, Dacicus, Pontifex [Maximus]

I will post the second of what will eventually be 11 closeup images (each with a few words in even higher res), covering the entire inscription, later this week.

In the meantime here is the tube Catich shipped the 9 sets of rubbings in, with calligraphic labels in his own hand.

Here is the next close-up photo (as before, not previously published or online) of the top centre-left portion of the upper 3 lines of the Trajan's Column inscription, as shown in the rubbing made by Father Edward Catich in Rome in 1970.

And here are higher res versions of 2 complete words (one abbreviated) from this second sequential photo of Catich's Trajan inscription rubbing:

CAESARI
AVG

This is the 3rd set of closeup photos of the Catich rubbing of the Trajan's Column inscription - 2 photos, covering the centre of the top three rows.

Notice the (old) wear to the letter 'G' in GERManico and the letter 'D' in DACICO.

I'll post the next portion later this week.

HT @MSilvertant for picking up my typo above, it's of course the 'M' in GERManico that's worn, not the 'G'!

@MSilvertant Moving now to the right hand side of the Trajan's Column inscription, here is the next close-up photo of the Catich rubbing: centre-right of the top three lines.

@MSilvertant ...and here now is the far-right hires photo, the end of the upper three lines of the inscription.

So we've now covered all of:
SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS / IMP CAESARI DIVI NERVAE F NERVAE / TRAIANO AVG GERM DACICO PONTIF

Later this week - the start of the lower three lines!

Three words in closeup from this right hand side photo of the upper three lines of the Catich rubbing:

ROMANVS
NERVAE
PONTIF

This is Father Catich's 1970 handwritten 'brochure' made for each of the nine sets of rubbings of the Trajan's Column inscription. It contains the fullest description of the technique Catich used to faithfully capture on paper every detail and nuance of the marble inscription.

Here is the first close-up pic of Father Catich's rubbing of the lower three lines of the Trajan's Column inscription:
MAXIMO TRIBunicia POTestate XVII IMPeratori VI COnSuli VI Patri Patriae / AD DECLARANDVM QVANTAE ALTITVDINIS / MONS ET LOCVS TAN[tis oper]IBVS SIT EGESTVS

Lower three lines of the Trajan's Column inscription, far left.

Lower three lines of the Trajan's Column inscription, centre left.

"Pontifex Maximus, invested with the power of the tribune 17 times, hailed imperator 6 times, elected consul 6 times, father of the fatherland, to demonstrate how lofty a hill and (what area of) ground was carried away for these mighty works."
[DR Dudley, Urbs Roma. Aberd.1967]

[last line]: "... in order to make visible (that is, from the summit of the column . . .) how much in elevation the hill (slope of the Quirinal) and the site (of the Forum Ulpium) had been raised up by such noble works of art". (Giacomo Boni, 1907).

The last line is generally interpreted as a rationale for the placement and size of the Column. It suggests the Column was erected as a marker to demonstrate the height of a certain "mons", or hill. Since excavations into the side of the Quirinal were necessary to build ... 1/2

... the forum and market complex, and these works may have included the removal of a hill-like ridge that connected the Quirinal to the Capitoline Hill, the inscription and the Column may have been set up at least in part to document this physical transformation of the city. 2/2

When the church of S Nicola de Columna was built against the pedestal of the column, a few letters in the centre of the lowest line of the inscription were lost when grooves were cut to support the roof of the church.
Catich dated the rubbing - Feb 21, 1970 - in the blank space.