It is impossible, when dealing with a designer so prolific and versatile as Bruce Rogers, to choose a single favorite book. He had many styles – monumental, classic, pastiche, eclectic, playful – in all of which he did superb work.
One of my favorite Rogers books is The Centaur printed at Carl Purington Rollins’s Montague Press in 1915, in which Bruce Rogers first used his Centaur typeface. I am particularly fond of it because we have, at the Newberry, Bruce Rogers’drawings for the type as well as the copy of Jenson’s 1470 Eusebius which he used in making the face. Like many other typographers Rogers considered Jenson’s roman letter the noblest ever devised. The Centaur is a spare book, with little ornamentation, depending for its effect on the beauty of its type, impeccable spacing, even color, balanced proportion between text and margins, choice of paper, and excellent presswork. BR never considered himself a printer, and complained when he had to set type or operate a press When he did, he was extremely good, since he set high standards for himself as well as others. It is hard to determine how much he did on the book, and how much Rollins did; the total effect is typical of Rogers’ best work. It is restrained, elegant, and absolutely right.
James Wells
