[Bible]; Rogers, Bruce (Designer); Targ, William

The Holy Bible [with] The Making of the Bruce Rogers World Bible; Containing The Old and New Testaments Translated Out of the Original Tongues and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised

Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, 1949. Rogers, Bruce. Limited First Edition. Hardcover. Two volumes, the Bible one of 975 copies, elephant folio size, [942] pp., [and] Making of the Bible number 178 of 1875 copies, quarto size, [41] pp. Very good. Item #CNJL314

The second folio Bible designed by Bruce Rogers, this time for an American publisher (his first was the "Oxford Lectern Bible", published in 1935), using the King James Version. No other book designer / typographer from the history of printing can claim to have designed two complete folio Bibles, each one highly regarded. Bruce Rogers (1870-1957), American typographer who invented the "Centaur" tyepface (based on the Renaissance-period printing of Nicolas Jenson), is considered by many to be one of the greatest book designers of the twentieth century. He designed books for the Riverside Press, Cambridge, when he cut his first typeface, "Montaigne," named for the first book it appeared in, "The Essays of Montaigne," 1903; he designed "Centaur" while working as house designer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1916 he worked for the Cambridge University Press, and a few years later returned to the U.S. where he met William Edwin Rudge and was employed by him at his Mount Vernon Press. During this time he also designed books for Harvard University Press and served as typographic advisor to Lanston Monotype. In 1928 Rogers returned to England where he produced what many have called "the most important and notable typographic achievement of the twentieth century," being his Oxford Lectern Bible. The present work was done during his later years, but is no less formidable in both size and scope, and essential to any collection of his work.

___DESCRIPTION: Original publisher's red cloth, with gilt-stamped illustration to upper board, lettered in gilt to backstrip, top-edge gilt, (quarto volume in matching red cloth with similar gilt motif to upper board and gilt lettering to backstrip, with original glassine jacket and housed in a blue paper slipcase), numerous flourishes and initials, vintage bookseller ticket on rear pastedown; types used include Fred Goudy's Deepdene Italic, Forum and Oldstyle type, paper is 74 lb., 75 percent white linen rag paper from Barcham Green Mill in England, elephant folio size (19.25" by 14"); "Making of the Bible" quarto size (11.5" by 8.5"), pagination: Bible [i-vi] vii-xxii [xxiii-xxiv] 1-941 [942] [1 colophon]; Making of the Bible [1-4] 5-19 [20-41], limited first editions of both volumes, with the folio being one of 975 copies, and the accompanying quarto being number 178 of 1875 copies.

___CONDITION: A very good copy of the folio, with some professional restoration to the backstrip/joints, some minor rubbing at edges, the binding with only light dustiness, gilt is bright with a few rubbed spots, and the interior clean other than some minor soiling to the endpapers, free of prior owner markings, one very short closed tear to the upper margin of the dedication page to King James; quarto fine overall, with some extremely light wear to the joints at the head and tail of the spine, its glassine wrapper, alas, fair only as the spine has perished and we only have the panels/flaps, its slipcase very good plus, sturdy with some overall wear.

___POSTAGE: Please note that this is an extremely large and heavy book, and therefore additional postage will apply as the standard shipping charge will not cover costs; please inquire for details.

___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.

Price: $2,500.00