The Annotated Capital

The Cardozo Kindersley Workshop, thought by many to be the finest letter-cutting workshop in the UK, was founded by the late David Kindersley in 1946. His widow Lida Cardozo carries on the practice of lettering that can be traced back through the giants of their tradition such as Eric Gill and Edward Johnston. The Workshop is an established part of Cambridge: almost all of the colleges have Kindersley inscriptions. The Annotated Capital gives a rich insight into an art form that surrounds us all but of which many are unaware. In seven chapters, illustrated with sketches from the Kindersley archive and photographs of completed letters cut in stone, this book tells the story of the basic Roman capital letterform. The eighth chapter contains no text but a series of 26 annotated capital letters showing how each character is drawn and cut, and the thinking behind it.