Bruce Rogers (1870 - 1957)

Bruce Rogers

Bruce Rogers, born Albert Bruce Rogers, was an American typographer and book designer who had a major influence on the development of book design in the United States in the early 20th century.

Trained as an artist, Rogers began working as an illustrator for an Indianapolis newspaper. In 1895 he moved to Boston, where he met masters in book publishing, including George Mifflin of Houghton Mifflin, who offered him a job at the Riverside Press. When the publishing house opened a limited edition department in 1900, Rogers was appointed its manager and was responsible for the design and printing of unique books. Over the next 12 years, he developed several new typefaces and produced more than 100 Riverside Press editions, which are highly regarded.

From 1916 he worked as an advisor to Cambridge University Press in England, where he supervised the preparation of the monumental Oxford Lectionary Bible, and then served as an advisor to Harvard University Press in the United States until 1934. Bruce Rogers also designed outstanding books for the William E. Rudge Printing Company in Mount Vernon, New York. His other bibliophile books and limited editions include The Odyssey, an edition of Shakespeare, the Boswell Papers, and the American Folio Lectern Bible. Bruce Rogers is considered one of the preeminent book designers of the twentieth century.