Bruce Rogers

I’ve mostly by accident ended up owning quite a few of the books Bruce Rogers did for the LEC. The remaining ones, as identified through the Quarto-Millennary index, are pricey, though - The Wind in the Willows, Robert Frost’s poems, Gulliver’s Travels (the minimax version), The Extant Epicurus and (less so perhaps) L’Allegro and Il Penseroso (which wasn’t signed). I’m happiest about owning the Shakespeare set, certainly, and love Bacon’s essays, but I’d be interested to hear anyone else’s thoughts on what’s unmissable and what is the very greatest work Rogers did for Macy (or indeed the Macys - he passed away the year after George did so that’ll be it).

>1 GusLogan: I do love the Shakespeare set (of what I've acquired of it), but I think my favorite I've seen (and wish to own someday) is the Gulliver’s Travels. I saw it at Green Apple Books several years ago and loved the slipcase and different sizing of the two books, fitting the theming of these two bits of the overall Gulliver arc with the design.

>1 GusLogan: Aesop's Fables with its numerous facsimiles of Florentine woodcuts, Barcham Green paper, parchment spine and marbled boards is worth looking into.

>3 kdweber:

And printed in the Fell types.

>3 kdweber:
It was his first work for Macy - a sobering thought, somehow! Though I suppose he was in his sixties by then.

>3 kdweber: Aesop! That's another one I'd like to get soon.

>2 WildcatJF: Yes, I have always wanted a copy of the Gulliver's Travels with the two different sized books. I have looked for years, but the price was always more than I would spend for the book. I almost bought a copy a few years back for $200.00, but I just could not spend the money at the time. Now it seems to be going in the $450 range for a nice copy.

>7 Bernarrd:
This may wet your appetite further.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/270797

>2 WildcatJF:
>7 Bernarrd:
>8 wcarter:

I hope it makes (1 500 plus 20-ish minus whatever number have been lost/destroyed) people very happy, but for me it just looks like two rather impractical books for the sake of a cute idea. This said - I’m sure the execution is terrific.

>8 wcarter: I have no doubt it is a very nice book, it is mainly the price I have always had issues with. I should have bought the book 20 years ago when he price was considerably less. It just always seems that I have somewhere else to put the money.

Rogers was born in 1870 so he had a long career before the LEC. Notable were his Riverside press book early in the century.
Wind in the Willows is my favorite of his LECs- if I had to choose one. The Rackham illustrations are beautifully reproduced. As far as I know, The Heritage and Easton Press and any other publications of the work are missing four of Rackham's illustrations; so they can only be found here.

I just became aware of the Bruce Rogers 30, the 30 books - out of the more than 500 he designed - that he was wholly satisfied with. Two LECs made the cut: Aesop’s Fables (1933) and Shakespeare’s Poems (1941).

>12 GusLogan: Interesting, do you have the full list?

>13 MyrddinWyllt:
No, I just found part of it in an image in this eBay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1979-BR-30-Bruce-Rogers-Typography-Limited-Edition-/174...

Since Rogers didn’t work for the LEC pre-1933 and the list seems to be chronological not much is lost from a narrow LEC perspective, but seeing the rest would be interesting. The Odyssey I expected.

>14 GusLogan:

Huh...Epicurus didn't make the cut? There's also Plato's Republic. Much as I loathe Plato, I can't bear to part with the beautiful LEC.

Did the LEC edition of Bacon's Essays make it?

>15 MobyRichard:
>16 kermaier:
Nope, only the two I mentioned!
(I prefer the Effayes to the Fables, but what do I know.)

>17 GusLogan: Of course BR had high standards and designed many books. But I WOULD certainly have included The Wind in the Willows in the thirty.

>18 laotzu225:
I hope to see it some day!

If I recall correctly, Rogers included a number of books purely concerning typography in his top 30 list, so I suspect his criteria were rather more technical than the preferences for readable classics which seem to be in evidence here.

For a related but different example, much as I love both Mardersteig's work and fine typography, I find my enthusiasm for a work such as Alphabetum Romanum (1960) to be somewhat muted, despite its obvious beauty.

>14 GusLogan: The same copy is listed on ABE for slightly under 600 USD....

>21 Glacierman:
Thank you, but I’m not really looking for a copy, I just thought it was worth flagging the two LEC books Rogers himself was most pleased with for any future threadreaders.

>22 GusLogan: I was just noting the price difference.....

>24 Glacierman:
Ah, right, yes - I often find eBay prices are way higher (for the same listing) than those on Abebooks, partly to make offers look appealing I guess, and Biblio prices usually lowest even before the discount for members.

Indeed just looking at this listing was enough to receive an offer of a significant discount…

Utopia (1934) and Aesop's Fables (1933) are right at the top of my favorites from BR for LEC. I've handled all the others (except Wind in the Willows), but those two are especially great. I like the Robert Frost 2-volume set, but not nearly enough to spend $1.5k on it. The Federalist Papers are wonderful but strangely hard to find (which I think got brought up in another thread recently).

>1 GusLogan:
Rather late to be adding to this thread, but in addition to the Shakespeare, my favorite BR Limited Editions Club is The Federalist.

>26 DenimDan:

A bit OT, but if you like the production values of the BR editions of Utopia (1934) and Aesop's Fables (1933) - and I certainly do, as well - may I suggest taking a look at another LEC book published around that time, specifically:

The Four Gospels (1932), designed and decorated by Emil Rudolf Weiss, printed and bound by Poeschel & Trepte in Leipzig, Germany. The two title pages for the entire book and each of the four gospels have wood engraved lettering and illustrations by Weiss and numerous initial letters are also wood-engraved as well. The type (unspecified) is clear, unfussy and a pleasure to read, the letterpress printing is top tier and the paper (also unspecified) is thick, soft, and high quality, amongst the best in an LEC book.

E. R. Weiss was an artist, typographer and book designer on a par with Bruce Rogers and this edition of The Four Gospels has more than a passing similarity to the two BR editions referenced above.

>26 DenimDan: >28 dlphcoracl: I second that! It is a beautiful book.

>28 dlphcoracl: Thanks for the recommendation! I've actually never handled this one, even though I like everything I read/see about this one. I suppose I haven't got around to buying this one because there are already a lot of Biblical/liturgical books on my shelves!

Here’s a beaut:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Of-Francis-Bacon-Signed-Bruce-Rogers-Limited-Editions-C...

No affiliation. I’d buy it myself if I didn’t already own it.

>28 dlphcoracl: I believe the typeface for "The Four Gospels" is Weiss Antiqua, developed by none other than E. R. Weiss. A great deal of craftsmanship went into this production, definitely worth having on a Fine Press collector's shelf.

>31 GusLogan: That is a nice copy. I already own that one, too, also a nice copy. Lovely book, for certain.