As a visiting artist at The American Academy in Rome in 2022, I walked the roads and piazzas of the city of Rome in my search for examples of epigraphy. Numerous photographs of examples were taken and their exact locations were geotagged. 320 of those were selected for inclusion in this publication. Each example was chosen because I felt it was meaningful and culturally significant, and then they were carefully drawn in the manner of a traditional epigrapher.

At the Academy, I was able to consult with historians, librarians & scholars who offered me guidance on my approach to recording epigraphy. They advised me that rejecting the traditional approach to epigraphy that was focused on ancient examples was legitimate, and that creating a document of the constantly evolving collection of letter forms, marks, and symbols as they existed on the surface of the city in 2022 was a valid and unique approach to exploring epigraphy. 

My goal was to explore the contemporary layer of communication that rests upon the city's surface and give voice to the everyday Romans and myriad visitors who have left their mark upon the city—to memorialize the mundane and give voice to individuals largely ignored in the historical record. I aim to act as a sort of cultural preservationist documenting the shift from ancient Roman typography engraved upon the facades of imperial structures, to the centuries-old tradition of craftsman designers creating unique typefaces and signage for shopkeepers in the 19th and 20th centuries, to our present landscape of graffiti and tagging that dominates the epigraphic landscape.

The book was designed and printed in 2024 during my residency at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia and Tipoteca in Cornuda Italy. At the Scuola, I collaborated with Cristina Zanato on the Risograph printing of the interior and with Daniele Fachin at Tipoteca on the letterpress printing of the cover. Daniele also bound the book.

A poster featuring a unique typeface designed by Cristina Zanato, Jan Møller and myself, based on one of the typographic examples in the book, is included as a poster. 

Please contact me for sales.

Published by Object Editions, 2024

Limited Edition of 30 signed copies. 

160 Pages

21 cm x 29.4 cm (8 1/4 ” x 11 5/8”) closed format

Risograph printed interior

Letterpress printed cover

Swiss binding

Risograph printed poster

$250.00

“The Romans, who went down in history for covering Italy and Europe with roads, also enjoyed covering everything they came across in writing.” Giuliano Tedesco, 2001 

“...the soil of Rome being stocked to a great depth with words, bits of architecture and sculpted limbs, tombstones and all the other compost of civilized time...” Eleanor Clark, Rome and a Villa, 1950 

“When graffiti are found in large numbers in one and the same place they gain the importance of a historical document.” Lanciani, 1891