When traveling in Paris, American designer Frederic W. Goudy did a rubbing of a second century marble inscription he found in the Louvre. After ruminating on these letterforms for several years, he drew a titling typeface in 1918, all around the letters P, R, and E. He called the new face "Hadriano" as that name was in the original inscription. Robert Wiebking cut the matrices, and the Continental Typefounders Association released the font. Goudy designed a lowercase at the request of Monotype in 1930, though he didn't really like the idea of adding lowercase to an inscriptional letterform. The lowercase looks much like some of Goudy's other Roman faces.
Compugraphic added more weights in the late 1970s, and made the shapes more cohesive. Hadriano has nicely cupped serifs and sturdy, generous body shapes. Distinctive individual letters include the cap A and Q, and the lowercase e, g, and z. Hadriano™ is an excellent choice for impressive headings and vigorous display lines.
