The following words are not mine, but those of the distinguished book designer and former Yale University Printer Greer Allen (1922–2005), and one of the most generous human beings I ever met. When I came across the Rollins article in the Lawson-Provan teaching files, I remembered Greer’s offering the same essay to his students at Rare Book School. I thought it best to offer his comments to introduce it here:

“There are only two concepts which you must remember from this essay by Rollins, and they are both found in the final paragraph; namely, “the economy of scarcity” and “the continuous connection with the past.”

The balance of the reading simply places Rollins’s thoughts in context. Do not be abashed by references to people, printing houses and type faces of which you have never heard he is talking to a specialized, professional audience. But commit to memory and think about those two essential phrases noted above.

Rollins—who spent four decades as Printer to Yale University—was the first person to be so designated at an American institution. His gifts, both verbal and typographic, placed him at the heart of the golden age of historical revival in which he and his friends—Daniel Berkelely Updike and Bruce Rogers among them—flourished.”

Here is “The Economy of Scarcity” by Carl Purington Rollins.

TypoCurious