Bruce Rogers
Encyclopedia
Bruce Rogers was an American typographer and type designer, acclaimed by some as the greatest book designer of the twentieth century. Rogers was known for his "classical" style of design, rejecting modernism, never using asymmetrical arrangements, rarely using sans serif type faces, favoring stolid roman faces such as Caslon
and his own Centaur
. His books now fetch high sums at auction.
, he never used the name Albert and was known to associates as "BR." Rogers received a B.S. from Purdue University
in 1890. At Purdue, he worked with political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon
on the student newspaper and yearbook. After graduation, Rogers worked as both an artist for the Indianapolis News
and as office boy for a rail-road. After seeing several Kelmscott Press editions, Rogers became interested in producing fine books and so moved to Boston
, then a center of publishing, where he free-lanced for L. Prang and Co.
.
, where he worked on trade books and designed book advertisements for the Atlantic Monthly. In 1900 an Department of Special Bookmaking for the production of fine editions was created with Mr. Rogers its head. More than sixty of these Riverside Press Editions were designed by Rogers, decorated with illustrations and ornament largely by him, and printed on hand-made, damped paper. It was there, in 1901, that he cut his first typeface, Montaigne, a Venetian style face named for the first book it appeared in, a 1903 limited edition of The Essays of Montaigne
.
where he worked both as an independent designer and as house designer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
. It was for the Museum's 1915 limited edition of Maurice de Guérin's
The Centaur that he designed his most famous type-face, Centaur
. Like Montaigne it was based on the Venetian
faces of Nicolas Jenson
. Rogers considered this face to be a substantial improvement on his early Montaigne, both because his design had matured and because, on the advice of Frederic Goudy
, he had employed Robert Wiebking
as the punch-cutter, and Rogers used Centaur
extensively for the rest of his career The Centaur was produced by Rogers in Dyke Mill
at Carl Rollins' Montague Press and is now one of the most collectible books ever printed.
to work with Emory Walker, hoping to establish a press for fine editions. However, due to wartime conditions, only one book was produced and Rogers soon sought employment with the Cambridge University Press
. He found conditions at the press to be very poor and his report to the syndics of the press resulted in many reforms and paved the way for the hiring of Stanley Morison
as typographical adviser.
who began to use Rogers extensively as a book designer for his Mount Vernon Press. This was Rogers's most productive and remunerative period, as he worked three days a week designing books for Rudge, served as typographic adviser and designed books for Harvard University Press
(from 1920–1936), served as typographic adviser to Lanston Monotype, and produced a few books for the June House Press which he operated in partnership with James Raye Wells and James Hendrickson.
translated by T.E. Lawrence. Despite Rogers being very "bookish," he soon became close, life-long friends with the dashing Lawrence of Arabia. The project took four years and the fine book was printed in Centaur types
, on gray hand-made paper, bound in black Niger leather. While in England, Rogers became engaged to produce the renowned Oxford Lectern Bible
for Oxford University Press
. This project took six years, requiring annual trips to England to oversee its completion in 1935. Joseph Blumenthal
called this "The most important and notable typographic achievement of the twentieth century." To produce the Bible, an italic complement to Centaur was needed. As he did not feel capable of designing the sort of chancery face
that he thought appropriate, Rogers chose to pair Centaur with Frederic Warde's
Arrighi, a pairing retained to this day.
. In later life, Rogers and his wife donated a substantial collection of books, early manuscripts, and antique furniture to Purdue University
's Special Collection Library. The bulk of his papers are in the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
.
in 1925 and made this his permanent home from 1932 until his death. Rogers was a member of the Typophiles and smoked imported English cigarettes..
Caslon
Caslon refers to a number of serif typefaces designed by William Caslon I , and various revivals thereof.Caslon shares the irregularity characteristic of Dutch Baroque types. It is characterized by short ascenders and descenders, bracketed serifs, moderately-high contrast, robust texture, and...
and his own Centaur
Centaur (typeface)
Centaur is a Humanist Type Family originally drawn as titling capitals by Bruce Rogers in 1914 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The matrices were cut by Robert Wiebking and the type was privately cast by the American Type Foundery. The typeface is based upon several Renaissance models...
. His books now fetch high sums at auction.
Early life
Born Albert Bruce Rogers in Linnwood, IndianaLafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
, he never used the name Albert and was known to associates as "BR." Rogers received a B.S. from Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
in 1890. At Purdue, he worked with political cartoonist John T. McCutcheon
John T. McCutcheon
John Tinney McCutcheon was an American newspaper political cartoonist who was known as the "Dean of American Cartoonists"....
on the student newspaper and yearbook. After graduation, Rogers worked as both an artist for the Indianapolis News
Indianapolis News
The Indianapolis News was an evening newspaper published for 130 years, beginning December 7, 1869, and ending on October 1, 1999. At one time it had the largest circulation in the state of Indiana, and was the oldest Indianapolis newspaper in existence....
and as office boy for a rail-road. After seeing several Kelmscott Press editions, Rogers became interested in producing fine books and so moved to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, then a center of publishing, where he free-lanced for L. Prang and Co.
Louis Prang
Louis Prang was an American printer, lithographer and publisher. He is sometimes known as the "father of the American Christmas card".- Youth :...
.
Riverside Press Period (1895-1911)
In 1895 he took a position designing books for Riverside Press in CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, where he worked on trade books and designed book advertisements for the Atlantic Monthly. In 1900 an Department of Special Bookmaking for the production of fine editions was created with Mr. Rogers its head. More than sixty of these Riverside Press Editions were designed by Rogers, decorated with illustrations and ornament largely by him, and printed on hand-made, damped paper. It was there, in 1901, that he cut his first typeface, Montaigne, a Venetian style face named for the first book it appeared in, a 1903 limited edition of The Essays of Montaigne
Essays (Montaigne)
Essays is the title given to a collection of 107 essays written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. Montaigne essentially invented the literary form of essay, a short subjective treatment of a given topic, of which the book contains a large number...
.
New York/Dyke Mill Period (1911-1916)
In 1912, Rogers moved to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he worked both as an independent designer and as house designer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. It was for the Museum's 1915 limited edition of Maurice de Guérin's
Maurice de Guérin
Georges Maurice de Guérin du Cayla was a French poet.Descended from a noble and rich family, he was born at the chateau of Le Cayla in Andillac, Tarn. He was educated for the church at a religious seminary at Toulouse, and then at the Collège Stanislas, Paris, after which he entered the society at...
The Centaur that he designed his most famous type-face, Centaur
Centaur (typeface)
Centaur is a Humanist Type Family originally drawn as titling capitals by Bruce Rogers in 1914 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The matrices were cut by Robert Wiebking and the type was privately cast by the American Type Foundery. The typeface is based upon several Renaissance models...
. Like Montaigne it was based on the Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
faces of Nicolas Jenson
Nicolas Jenson
Nicolas Jenson was a French engraver, pioneer printer and type designer who carried out most of his work in Venice. Jenson acted as Master of the French Royal Mint at Tours, and is accredited with being the creator of the first model roman type...
. Rogers considered this face to be a substantial improvement on his early Montaigne, both because his design had matured and because, on the advice of Frederic Goudy
Frederic Goudy
Frederic W. Goudy was a prolific American type designer whose typefaces include Copperplate Gothic, Kennerley, and Goudy Old Style. He also designed, in 1938, University of California Oldstyle, for the sole proprietary use of the University of California Press...
, he had employed Robert Wiebking
Robert Wiebking
Robert Wiebking was a German-American engraver typeface designer who was known for cutting type matrixes for Frederic Goudy from 1911 to 1926.-Life and career:...
as the punch-cutter, and Rogers used Centaur
Centaur (typeface)
Centaur is a Humanist Type Family originally drawn as titling capitals by Bruce Rogers in 1914 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The matrices were cut by Robert Wiebking and the type was privately cast by the American Type Foundery. The typeface is based upon several Renaissance models...
extensively for the rest of his career The Centaur was produced by Rogers in Dyke Mill
Montague, Massachusetts
Montague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statistical area....
at Carl Rollins' Montague Press and is now one of the most collectible books ever printed.
First English Visit
In 1916 Rogers left for EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to work with Emory Walker, hoping to establish a press for fine editions. However, due to wartime conditions, only one book was produced and Rogers soon sought employment with the Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
. He found conditions at the press to be very poor and his report to the syndics of the press resulted in many reforms and paved the way for the hiring of Stanley Morison
Stanley Morison
Stanley Morison was an English typographer, designer and historian of printing.Born in Wanstead, Essex, Morison spent most of his childhood and early adult years at the family home in Fairfax Road, Harringay...
as typographical adviser.
Mount Vernon Period (1919-1928)
After returning from England, Rogers met William Edwin RudgeWilliam Edwin Rudge
William Edwin Rudge is the name of a grandfather, father and son; all publishers/printers; all three of the same name -Grandfather, William Edwin Rudge :...
who began to use Rogers extensively as a book designer for his Mount Vernon Press. This was Rogers's most productive and remunerative period, as he worked three days a week designing books for Rudge, served as typographic adviser and designed books for Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
(from 1920–1936), served as typographic adviser to Lanston Monotype, and produced a few books for the June House Press which he operated in partnership with James Raye Wells and James Hendrickson.
Second English Visit
In 1928 Rogers left for England in hopes of producing an edition of the OdysseyOdyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
translated by T.E. Lawrence. Despite Rogers being very "bookish," he soon became close, life-long friends with the dashing Lawrence of Arabia. The project took four years and the fine book was printed in Centaur types
Centaur (typeface)
Centaur is a Humanist Type Family originally drawn as titling capitals by Bruce Rogers in 1914 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The matrices were cut by Robert Wiebking and the type was privately cast by the American Type Foundery. The typeface is based upon several Renaissance models...
, on gray hand-made paper, bound in black Niger leather. While in England, Rogers became engaged to produce the renowned Oxford Lectern Bible
Oxford Lectern Bible
The Oxford Lectern Bible was a massive edition of the English Bible designed by American typographer Bruce Rogers. The Bible, completed in 1935, was published by Oxford University Press. There were three sizes of the Bible printed...
for Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. This project took six years, requiring annual trips to England to oversee its completion in 1935. Joseph Blumenthal
Joseph Blumenthal (printer)
Joseph Blumenthal was an American printer, teacher, and designer of books and printing types. After working in the printing industry for some time, Blumenthal and A. G. Hoffman of the Marchbank Press founded the Spiral Press in 1926...
called this "The most important and notable typographic achievement of the twentieth century." To produce the Bible, an italic complement to Centaur was needed. As he did not feel capable of designing the sort of chancery face
Script (typefaces)
Script typefaces are based upon the varied and often fluid stroke created by handwriting. They are organized into highly regular formal types similar to cursive writing and looser, more casual scripts.- Formal scripts :...
that he thought appropriate, Rogers chose to pair Centaur with Frederic Warde's
Frederic Warde
Frederic Warde was a typographic designer. He was born in Wells, Minnesota, enlisted in the United States Army in 1915 and attended the Army School of Military Aeronautics at the University of California, Berkeley during 1917-1918...
Arrighi, a pairing retained to this day.
October House Period (1932-1957)
In later years, Rogers worked as a free-lancer, designed his World Bible, and wrote and designed his well regarded book on printing, Paragraphs on Printing, which was published by William E. Rudge's Sons in 1943. Rogers died on May 18, 1957 in New Fairfield, ConnecticutNew Fairfield, Connecticut
New Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 13,881 at the 2010 census. The town is considered part of the greater New York Metropolitan Area and lies approximately from New York City...
. In later life, Rogers and his wife donated a substantial collection of books, early manuscripts, and antique furniture to Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
's Special Collection Library. The bulk of his papers are in the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library was a 1963 gift of the Beinecke family. The building was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft of the firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and is the largest building in the world reserved exclusively for the preservation of rare books...
.
Personal life
In 1900, Rogers married Anna Embree Baker and they remained together until her death in 1936. As Rogers spent most of his working life as a free-lancer, they lived frugally and were often in financial straits. Rogers purchased October House, his residence in New Fairfield, ConnecticutNew Fairfield, Connecticut
New Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 13,881 at the 2010 census. The town is considered part of the greater New York Metropolitan Area and lies approximately from New York City...
in 1925 and made this his permanent home from 1932 until his death. Rogers was a member of the Typophiles and smoked imported English cigarettes..
Sayings of Bruce Rogers
- "Don't borrow contemporary work — you are sure to be found out."
- "Never apologize."
- "The first requisite of all book design is orderliness."
- When told that something he had produced was not "according to Hoyle" he answered, "We're Hoyle.".
Typefaces
- Montaigne (1901, privately cast), punches cut by John Cumming
- Centaur (original)Centaur (typeface)Centaur is a Humanist Type Family originally drawn as titling capitals by Bruce Rogers in 1914 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The matrices were cut by Robert Wiebking and the type was privately cast by the American Type Foundery. The typeface is based upon several Renaissance models...
(1914, privately cast by Barnhart Brothers & SpindlerBarnhart Brothers & SpindlerBarnhart Brothers & Spindler Type Foundry was founded as the Great Western Type Foundry in 1873. It became Barnhart Brothers & Spindler ten years later. It was a successful foundry known for innovative type design and well designed type catalogs. Oz Cooper, Will Ransom, Robert Wiebking, and...
), matrices cut by Robert WiebkingRobert WiebkingRobert Wiebking was a German-American engraver typeface designer who was known for cutting type matrixes for Frederic Goudy from 1911 to 1926.-Life and career:...
of the Western Type FoundryWestern Type FoundryWestern Type Foundry was founded in 1901 to compete with the conglomerate and near-monopoly, American Type Founders. In 1914 Western purchased the Advance Type Foundry in Chicago from Wiebking, Hardinge & Company, though even before this Robert Wiebking did most of the punch-cutting and matrix...
. - Centaur (Monotype)Centaur (typeface)Centaur is a Humanist Type Family originally drawn as titling capitals by Bruce Rogers in 1914 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The matrices were cut by Robert Wiebking and the type was privately cast by the American Type Foundery. The typeface is based upon several Renaissance models...
(1929, Monotype Ltd. and Mackenzie & Harris), matrices re-cut for machine composition by British Monotype.
Additional reading
- Rogers, Bruce. Pi; a hodge-podge of the letters, papers, and addresses written during the last sixty years, Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1972.
- ——. Paragraphs on Printing, NY: Dover Publications, 1980. Reprint of first edition (NY: William E. Rudge's Sons, 1943).
- Targ, William. The making of the Bruce Rogers World Bible, Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1949.
- Warde, Frederic. Bruce Rogers, designer of books And Bruce Rogers: a bibliography; hitherto unrecorded work 1889-1925, complete works 1925-1936, by Irvin Haas. Mount Vernon: The Peter Pauper Press, 1936; Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1967.