- Bruce Rogers is recognized
as one of the greatest book designers of the 20th century.
He was urbane, scholarly, and meticulous.
Throughout his life, he maintained a preference
for classical typography, and rejected modernism.
During the second-half of the 20th century,
he was disregarded, or deemed irrelevant,
as the international style of modern design
and sans-serif fonts moved to the forefront,
but we can look back now, without that prejudice,
and recognize the incredible brilliance of Rogers.
Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Rogers was born in the Midwest.
He studied to be an artist at Purdue University,
but after seeing work from William Morris's Kelmscott press,
Rogers moved to Boston
to learn about book design and making.
In 1895, he began designing books
for the Riverside Press,
using Morris's theories and techniques.
He printed on hand-made papers,
and favored classical forms, symmetry, and order.
He traditionally used classic fonts,
such as Caslon, Baskerville, and Garamond,
but designed his own as well.
Montaigne was based on
Nicholas Jenson's 15th century Venetian typefaces.
When Rogers turned 32, he moved to New York,
and worked as the in-house designer
for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He continued to align his work
with the arts and crafts movement,
designing his most well-known typeface, Centaur.
The typeface was designed for use
on the Museum's 1915 limited edition of The Centaur.
That book is now one of the most collected books
ever printed.
The typeface Centaur,
like Montaigne, was also based
on Nicholas Jenson's Venetian typefaces.
In 1928, Rogers traveled to England
with a plan to produce an edition of Homer's Odyssey,
translated by T H Lawrence,
of Lawrence of Arabia fame.
Although Rogers was scholarly,
and Lawrence was an adventurer,
they became good friends
during the long process that took four years.
In early 1929, Oxford University Press
hired Rogers to design their new edition of The Bible.
The Oxford Lectern Bible was an enormous undertaking,
taking six years to produce.
It is typeset in Centaur,
but when Rogers realized he need an italic,
he paired Centaur with Arrighi.
Centaur and Arrighi continue to be paired today
as of roman and italic versions of one font.
The prolific Rogers, however, managed to produce
several other projects at the same time,
but it was The Bible that was hailed
the most important and notable typographic achievement
of the 20th century.
A bound Rogers' Oxford Bible
recently was auctioned for $35,000.
Rogers' genius was in his ability to merge
the fine, handcrafted typography with the machine,
and he managed to retain artistry
and finesse in the transition.
He had the ability to brilliantly manipulate
type and ornament without creating unnecessary decoration.
He produced books that were meant to be read,
not displayed behind glass.
By the end of his life, Bruce Rogers was widely recognized.
Yale University awarded him a Master of Arts degree.
Purdue gave him a university
Doctor of Humane Letters degree,
and Harvard University, a Master of Arts degree.
He received a Gold Medal for Graphic Arts
from the American Academy of Arts and Letters,
and was one of the first medalists of the AIGA.
Even when modernism had set aside Rogers,
his work continued to appeal
to a small group of classical designers.
The influential writer, Joseph Blumenthal,
wrote about Rogers in 1977,
"The forces that converge
"to produce an American typographic renaissance
"found their finest realization
"in the work of Bruce Rogers."