In 1938 Leonard Evetts published his book Roman Lettering, based on his study of the letters of the inscription at the base of the Trajan column. This went through eight reprints and established Evetts as an authority in historic calligraphy. Evetts was the son of a painting contractor who taught him signwriting and stimulated a lifelong interest in lettering and calligraphy. At the age of 18 he won a short scholarship to the Royal College of Art and this was followed by a three-year scholarship, in 1930-33, where he studied calligraphy under Edward Johnston and stained glass under Martin Travers. Throughout his lifetime Evetts continued to work in both of these distinct areas, often separately, but also often combining them in his stained glass window work.