OF THE JUST SHAPING OF LETTERS

New York: The Grolier Club, 1917. quarter vellum with marbled paper-covered boards. Rogers, Bruce. tall 4to. quarter vellum with marbled paper-covered boards. (iv), 40, (4) pages. Limited to 215 copies (Warde 126; Asaf 70). Prospectus loosely inserted. Lacking the vellum spine, minor chipping to the paper-covered boards. Rear bottom corner slightly chipped. Internally a fine copy. R.T. Nichol has provided the first English translation of this text from the Latin edition of 1535. Printed on Kelmscott hand-made paper, designed by Bruce Rogers and printed at the press of Emery Walker and Wilfred Merton. This is the first book Rogers printed on English soil, and is, justifiably, a BR30 title. A magnificent book.



As Joseph Blumenthal recounts in Bruce Rogers: A Life in Letters, after experiencing "a growing sense of despondency and discouragement," in his later years at Riverside, Rogers accepted Emery Walker's invitation to come to England to print with him. This book, the first product of that collaboration, which also introduced Rogers to Wilfred Merton, is the only work completed by the Mall Press. Fifteen years later, Rogers, Walker, and Merton would combine their acumen in the design and printing of T.E. Lawrence's translation of The Odyssey. (see Blumenthal, pp. 38-63). The typography is by the notable American book designer Bruce Rogers (1870-1957), who "was appreciated in his lifetime. In addition to several honorary degrees, in 1948 he was awarded a gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for distinction in the graphic arts. Over decades of accomplishment in which he designed approximately 500 books... Rogers literally defined the profession of book designing in the United States" (ANB). Francis Meynell stated that Rogers was."the greatest artificer of the book who ever lived