CENTAUR a typeface by Bruce Rogers
Albert Bruce Rogers, called “B.R.” by friends, was “one of the greatest artificers of the book who ever lived,” 1 according to Francis Meynell, founder of the Nonesuch Press. Rogers, born in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1870, created the typefaces Montaigne and Centaur. He designed some of the finest books ever made, such as the Oxford Lectern Bible, The Centaur, T.E. Lawrence’s famous translation of The Odyssey of Homer, and Fra Luca de Pacioli.
This is the story of Centaur.
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.�
DIRECT subtle lightness
FORTHRIGHT Order
O ORIGINS of the TYPEFACE
Rogers’s first attempt at type design, around 1903, resulted in the Montaigne face. Rogers was inspired by Nicolas Jenson’s 15th century types. “I was at once impressed by the loveliness of its page, indifferently printed though as they were. The early judgment was confirmed for me many years later (though by then it needed no confirmation) when Berkeley Updike wrote of them: ‘to look at the work of Jenson is to think but of its beauty, and almost to forget that it was made with hands.’”6
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OOOO Adobe Jenson
Centaur
Adobe Jenson Italic
Centaur Italic
The axis for the O is similar in Adobe Jenson and Centaur. The width of the O is thinner in Centaur than it is in Adobe Jenson.
j
X-HEIGHT
The x-height in Centaur is slightly higher than that of Adobe Jenson
SERIF The serifs in Centaur are more elongated
STEM
The stems are equal in weight
DESCENDER
The descender in Centaur points downwards and is more narrow
Adobe Jenson
Centaur
Adobe Jenson Italic
Centaur Italic
JJJJ
The descenders on the J are different between Adobe Jenson and Centaur. The descenders in Centaur are thinner and point downward.
A A AA Adobe Jenson
Centaur
Adobe Jenson Italic
The angle of the top point is completely horizontal in Centaur while the angle varies in Adobe Jenson.
Centaur Italic
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CHARACTERISTICS In a small book, The Centaur Types, Rogers evaluated the typeface he designed: “My opinion, then, is whatever its intrinsic merits may be, it is too definitely an Italian Renaissance letter, which I have tried to suggest by the classic column in my initial drawing. The three qualities named sharp, hard, and definite, are no doubt admirable ones in their place. It is what might be called a ‘cool’ type unless humored in the composition and press-work.”
The upper serifs on the M point outwards only
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The o has a diagonal axis
M o e9
The crossbar on the e is on a diagonal The 9 does not fully close
The serifs in Centaur are particularly detailed and ornate. Almost each one has a unique curve or angle. Left to right: b, l, j, k, d
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q RSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
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.
Above: Signage for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Left: The Centaur Types by Bruce Rogers
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Rogers thought the design of Centaur to be of historic importance because it exemplified “an original design of cultivation and grace, classical elegance and its aristocratic Renaissance ancestry. 10
It has been accepted as one of the great type designs, and once the cutting was completed for the Monotype machine, it was welcomed be sensitive designers and printers for many of the best books and ephemera.� 11
References 1 Joseph Blumenthal, Art of the Printed Book 1455-1955 (New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1973), 48. 2 Joseph Blumenthal, Bruce Rogers: A life in Letters, 1870-1957 (Austin: W.T. Taylor, 1989), 3. 4 Ibid, 5. 6 Ibid, 13. 8 Ibid, 33. 13 Bruce Rogers, The Centaur Type (Chicago: October House, 1949), 13. All the above taken from: Sheilah M. Barrett, Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces (New York: RC Publications), 72-79.
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) Note: See the list at special collections for this designer.
Š 2010 Limor Zisbrod All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. Limor Zisbrod is a Communication Design student at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. For information please contact Limor Zisbrod at 917-968-4100. This book was set in Centaur and Adobe Jenson by the publisher and printed in the United State of America.