Scope and Content Note
The Papers of Bruce Rogers (1870-1957) span the years 1508-1983, with the bulk of the material dating from 1900-1957. The papers are organized into the following series: Correspondence, Book Preparatory Materials, Printing Samples, Artwork, Writings and Speeches, Miscellaneous, Books and Realia.
The first series comprises correspondence received and sent by Rogers. It also includes some correspondence received by Henry Watson Kent, Frederic Warde, and Carl Pforzheimer. Notable correspondents include T.E. Lawrence, Daniel Berkeley Updike, A.W. Pollard, Rockwell Kent, Rudolph Ruzicka and others.
The Book Preparatory Materials series focuses on books designed by Bruce Rogers. It includes mock-ups, proof pages, illustrations, and cover designs for books designed throughout his entire career. Emphasized here are the Frick Collection, Tory's Champ Fleury, Shakespeare's plays for the Limited Editions Club, Thoreau's Walden, the Oxford Lectern Bible, World Bible, Divine Comedy and among others.
The Printing Samples by Rogers series covers designs collected by or designed by Rogers for bookplates, broadsides, printers' marks, greeting cards, and other ephemera as well as designs for certificates and diplomas, paper specimens designed for individuals or organizations. There is a significant amount of material on Rogers's type design for letters, including Centaur, and ornaments as well. Included are similar material collected by Rogers, H.W. Kent, and C. Pforzheimer. There is also a group of Rogers related materials designed or collected by Earl Emmons.
The Printing Samples series covers the Rogers' designs for bookplates, printer's marks, greeting cards, and other ephemera designed for individuals or organizations. It also contains similar material collected by Rogers, H.W. Kent, and C. Pforzheimer. There is also a significant amount of material on Rogers's type design for letters, including Centaur, and ornaments as well.
The Art Work series contains numerous watercolors as well as paintings, drawings, and prints that he collected. This series also includes numerous photographic portraits of Rogers and his contemporaries. Also included are watercolors and other artwork by his daughter, Elizabeth Rogers Burroughs. This section contains prints collected by Rogers, mainly by contemporaries such as Walter Tittle and Rudolph Ruzicka, but includes older prints from the likes of Marcantonio Raimondi.
The Writing and Speeches series includes typescripts by Rogers as well as articles about him by contemporaries such as Ruzicka and Warde. Also included is an typescript autobiographical outline by T.E. Lawrence, and a draft of a work of fiction, One Point of View, written pseudonymously by Alison Brown.
The Miscellaneous series covers exhibitions, honors and tributes, family history, and an inventory of his personal library. It contains numerous photographs of Rogers and his family, postcards he collected, some business records, as well as a large number of clippings and journal articles about him.
The Books series consists of printed publications some of which are illustrated by Bruce Rogers. Titles here do not have individual bibliographic records in the Library of Congress' catalog. However, those that do can be searched by selecting the authors/creators with "Pforzheimer Bruce Rogers Collection (Library of Congress)" There are 2,511 titles with this corporate name.
The Restricted series pertains to Rogers's realia, including sets of type, engraving plates, printing tools, and personal items. Included here is the statue of Aldus Manutius, presented to Rogers on his 80th birthday, as well the plaster medallion bust of Elizabeth Rogers Burroughs.