Elmer Adler (July 22, 1884 – January 11, 1962) was a

book designer Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, Word processor, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book ...

, collector, and graphic design educator.

Biography

Elmer Adler was born July 22, 1884 in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Adler began collecting books and prints while working at his family's clothing firm in Rochester, New York. In 1922, he established Pynson Printers in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and began designing books with Burton Emmett and John T. Winterich. Pynson worked on publications including the ''New York Times'' and the ''American Mercury'''','' and limited edition books for publishers including

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

and

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

''.'' In 1930, he began publishing ''

The Colophon, A Book Collectors' Quarterly ''The Colophon'', subtitled ''A Book Collectors' Quarterly'' or ''A quarterly for booklovers,'' was a limited edition quarterly periodical begun late in 1929 and continuing in various guises until 1950. It was the brainchild of Elmer Adler (1884– ...

''. He ended the publication in 1940 when he was invited to establish a Department of Graphic Arts at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He retired from Princeton in 1952. In 1955, he established an art-of-the-book program, La Casa del Libro, in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. La Casa del Libro opened in 1956. In 1947, he received the

AIGA Medal Following is a list of AIGA medalists who have been awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts medal. On its website, AIGA says "The medal of the AIGA, the most distinguished in the field, is awarded to individuals in recognition of their ex ...

. He died January 11, 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Elmer American graphic designers Book designers 1884 births 1962 deaths AIGA medalists