Felice Feliciano

Who was Felice Feliciano?

Felice Feliciano was a fifteenth-century calligrapher, composer of alchemical sonnets, and expert on Roman antiquity, especially inscriptions on stone. He lived just long enough to see printing arrive in Italy. He was the first to recreate geometrically the alphabet of Roman inscriptions, in 1463. The original copy of his treatise on the geometrical construction of Roman capital letters using the square and circle is preserved in the Vatican library. In 1470 while in Bologna as Vicario di Castel San Giorgio he became acquainted with Sabadino degli Arienti, that mentioned him in his III and IV Porretane. He started printing in 1476 in Poiano, near Verona. In 1478 traveled to Rome, visiting his friend Francesco Porcari.

Monotype's Felix Titling is based on a 1463 alphabet of Feliciano.