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Typography Tuesday

Yesterday we showed some decorative endpapers featuring owls from the soon-to-be-cataloged, 1972 publication Reed, Pen, & Brush Alphabets for writing and lettering by the noted American calligrapher

Edward M. Catich, printed by Catich at his Catfish Press on the campus of St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa.

Today we present some of Catich’s calligraphic examples from this 2-volume publication that features a commentary text and a portfolio of plates. 

Edward M. Catich was a calligrapher, type designer, stone cutter, musician, educator, and Roman Catholic priest who taught multiple disciplines at St. Ambrose College from 1938 until his death in 1979. Through his calligraphic practice and his in-depth study of the epigraphy on Trajan’s Column, Catich came to firmly believe that the serifs we are familiar with from the Roman capitals of the early Imperial period derive not from the use of chisel in stone, as is commonly understood, but rather from the use of the flat brush when writing Roman letter forms. He expounded on this theory in several publications, including this one. Besides his calligraphic work, Catich also designed two typefaces, Petrarch and Catfish.

Our copy of 

Reed, Pen, & Brush Alphabets includes a signed presentation from Edward Catich to his fellow type designer Alexander S. Lawson who taught typography at the

Rochester Insistute of Technology during the same period that Catich was at St. Ambrose.

View some of our other Typography Tuesday posts

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