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The Creator Albert Bruce Rogers, called “B.R.” by friends, was “one of the greatest artificers of the book
In 1900, Houghton Mifflin created a Department of Special Collections and Rogers was
who ever lived,” according to Francis Meynell, founder of the Nonesuch Press. Rogers, born
placed in charge of the design and productions of limited edition books. The projects
in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1870, created the typefaces Montaigne and Centaur. He designed
produced by the department were printed exclusively with metal type and not electrotype
some of the finest books ever made, such as the Oxford Lectern Bible, The Centaur,
plates. In his new position, Rogers had complete freedom of conception, design, use of
T.E. Lawrence’s famous translation of The Odyssey of Homer, and Fra Luca de Pacioli.
materials, and choice of printing.
From 1896 through 1900, Rogers worked as a book designer at Houghton Mifflin in Boston. There he developed his hallmark style, which, according to his biographer, was characterized by a “direct and forthright approach, a subtle lightness in the seemingly easy placement of words on a page, and above all, a sense of order. Rogers believed that books were meant to be read; his were rarely precious or flamboyant; never objects d’art to be preserved behind glass.”
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Origins of the Typeface Albert Bruce Rogers’s first attempt at type design, around 1903, resulted in the Montaigne
In hindsight, it was Rogers’s belief that the Montaigne typeface was not entirely
face. Rogers was inspired by Nicolas Jenson’s 15th century types. “At an exhibition of books at
satisfactory. It did, however, pave the way for his next typeface design, produced between
the Boston Public Library, I saw for the first time a copy of Nicolas Jenson’s Eusebius of 1470,”
1912 and 1914 and ultimately named Centaur. Rogers thought the design of Centaur to be
he later recalled. “I was at once impressed by the loveliness of its page, indifferently printed
of historic importance because it exemplified “an original design of cultivation and grace.
though as they were. The early judgment was confirmed for me many years later (though by
Because of its classical elegance and its aristocratic Renaissance ancestry, the type calls for
then it needed no confirmation) when Berkeley Updike wrote of them: ‘to look at the work of
special handling. On the other hand, among devotees of fine printing, it has been accepted
Jenson is to think but of its beauty, and almost to forget that it was made with hands.’”
as one of the great type designs, and once the cutting was completed for the Monotype
A sample of letterforms from Rogers’ Montaigne typeface, which was his first attempt at a Jenson derivative.
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machine, it was welcomed by sensitive designers and printers for many of the best books and ephemera.” In creating Centaur, Rogers once again turned to the work of Jenson and the Da Evangelica Præparatione for inspiration. Early uses of Centaur were exclusively for the signage and titling work produced at the Metropolitan Museum in New York as well as for Rogers’s personal book projects. It wasn’t until 15 years later in 1929 that a commercial version of Centaur was made available to machine composition by the English Monotype Company.
A sample of the alphabet for one of Nicolas Jenson’s original types, which served as inspiration for Rogers’ Centaur typeface.
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Characteristics of the Typeface In a small book, The Centaur Types, Rogers evaluated the typeface he designed: “I have
papers, with more impressions than you can ordinarily get a pressman to put on it. He,
often been asked what I think of Centaur, and although one usually has a bias in favor
and most of us, want printing as well as many of our other outlines in life to be as sharp
of his own productions the whole matter is not so far in the past that I believe I can view
and hard and definite as possible. I rather think that, in printing, Bodoni inaugurated this
it without prejudice. My opinion, then, is whatever its intrinsic merits may be, it is too
fashion, and thus [was] as ‘modern’ as his types. The three qualities named sharp, hard,
definitely an Italian Renaissance letter, which I have tried to suggest by the classic column
and definite, are no doubt admirable ones in their place; but Centaur does not take them
in my initial drawing. It is a little too elegant and thin for our modern papers and methods
too readily and naturally, and profits most when somewhat carelessly printed on paper that
of printing, and seen at its best when printed on dampened hand-made or other antique
wouldn’t be passed as perfect in any modern paper mill.
Upper serifs of M are single-sided, pointing out
Serifs on the center bar of “E”
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Stroked tail on uppercase “Q”
Diagonal bar on lowercase “e”
Bracketed tail on lowercase “y”
Distinctive parens with unmodulated strokes
Diagonal axis “O”
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Centaur vs. Garamond
Similarities
Garamond describes an umbrella of typefaces designed as “revivals either of type cut
Both typefaces are serif style, which defines the way that the caps and stems of the
by Claude Garamond in the late fifteenth century, or of type cut by Jean Jannon in the
letterforms are structured. Additionally, both typefaces are classified as Old Style, which
mid-16th century.” (http://typophile.com/node/12481&sa=U) The history of Garamond is a
features O’s with axes and marks the transition in typesetting from the use of a pen.
series of numerous revivals, resulting in a large library of typefaces all named after the same designer, although they are mostly based on the works of Jean Jannon.
Centaur alphabet
Garamond alphabet
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Differences Centaur and Garamond differ mostly in their use. Garamond’s expansive library of styles allows it to be used in a large number of contexts, including informative text and commercial advertisements, whereas Centaur is mostly used for book type because of its elegant, old-style lettering.
jackalope jackalope A direct comparison of some letterforms set in both Garamond and Centaur. Notice the bent tail of the Centaur “j” letterform (on the left), which is said to have been designed to prevent the need for kerning.
griffin griffin Side-by-side comparison of the “b” letterform in both Centaur (left)
Another comparison of letterforms, with Centaur on the left. Here you can observe differences in the point
and Garamond (right). Notice the differences in stem stroke and the
of conjunction in a ligature, as well as the difference in the bowl shape of the letter “g”.
shape of the bowls.
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Centaur vs. Baskerville
Similarities
Baskerville is rooted in the mid-18th century work of John Baskerville, who was known as a
Both typefaces are categorized as serif styles. They also share common usage; both typefaces
“writing master” of his era. His designs are used in classical contexts, such as Virgil and the
are widely used for books and extensive texts.
Bible. Baskerville’s roman is open and round, with a low contrast vertical stress.
Centaur alphabet
Baskerville alphabet
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Differences Baskerville differs from Centaur in that it is classified as Transitional serif. This means that Baskerville displays greater contrast in thick and thins, less bracketed serifs, and straightened axes on the bowls.
harpy harpy In this comparison, notice the way the tail of the “a” differs between the Centaur (left) and Baskerville (right) letterforms.
sphinx sphinx
Side-by-side comparison of the “K” letterform for both Baskerville
Another difference can be observed in the serifs for the “s” letterforms. Baskerville (right) uses a more
(left) and Centaur (right). Notice the differences in the point of
bracketed form for its serif.
intersection between each of the stems.
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Other Characteristics of Centaur
A man and a horse walks into a bar
The Centaur typeface is known for having a considerably low
The majority of Centaur’s strokes are relatively thin
Centaur is also characterized by large aperatures, which
x-height, which is the height of the lowercase characters.
compared to other typefaces, making the letterforms appear
define the areas where a letterform opens, such as the
gray when viewed from a distance.
lowercase “a�.
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Tips and Tricks for using Centaur “Digital Centaur’s lining figures are not particularly attractive and if they are needed (for example, with an all-caps head) consider substituting figures from another Venetian font. If Centaur’s small caps appear too small, consider making them slightly larger. Note that Centaur’s regular hyphen (-) is different from its italic hyphen (-). This can look odd in end-line stacks. Centaur is at its best when set with generous (25–50%) leading.” http://www.rightreading.com/typehead/centaur.htm
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Bibliography Carter, Sebastian. Twentieth Century Type Designers. Great Britain: Lund Humphries, 2002 (A&A: Z250 A2 C364 1995 and Vault ) Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. Vancouver: Hartley and Marks, 1997. (A&A: Z246 B745 1996 and Vault) Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces, essays by Carolyn Annand ... [et al.]; edited by Philip B. Meggs and Roy McKelvey, New York: RC Publications, 2000. (A&A: Z250.R45 2000) “Typeface: Centaur.” The Typehead Chronicles. Thomas Christensen, ABCedminded Typesetter. Web. 27 Nov 2012. Norvell, Forrest. “Garamond.” Typophile. Typophile, 05 2005. Web. 27 Nov 2012. <http://typophile.com/node/12481&sa=U>.
This book was created by Daniel Raggs III for Typgraphy I at Washington University in St. Louis, using augmented text from several essays written about the Centaur typeface. Text images were created using Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. The text is set in various fonts and point sizes of the Chaparral Pro typeface. Printed in black and white in December 2012.
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