“One logical and rewarding way [to consider roman type] is to think of the forms as a series of geometrical variations on a theme of square, circle, and triangle, which, when set together, will become a frieze of contracting and expanding spatial interruptions. This breathing quality is the very essence of the inscriptional concept, and is responsible for the liveliness as well as the nobility of the great classic carvings. Almost every letter shape carries its contained space, which in type is called the counter, and which is related, in composition, to the separations between letters. This inner space is not only vital to the color of a form—its black-and-white value—but is also an integral part of it.”

—Warren Chappell, A Short History of the Printed Word, 1970.