Ralph Beyer (1921-2008), exiled at the age of sixteen from Nazi Germany, made his home and career in Britain. He was a carver of stone inscriptions, best known for his huge 'Tablets of the Word' in Basil Spence's Coventry Cathedral. These broke the mould of classical formality associated with British lettercarving after Eric Gill--their irregularity and roughness offending conventional notions of 'correctness.' In fact, Beyer had spent a few formative...