Linocut portrait by Andrea Taylor from “A young printer in San Francisco, 1949” (Heavenly Monkey, 2007).
On January 21, Canada lost one of its first internationally renowned typographers and book designers. In his remarks at the 2007 ceremony for the Alcuin Society’s inaugural Robert R. Reid Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Book Arts in Canada, Dr Yosef Wosk called Robert (Bob) Reid, “one of the most versatile and prolific print designers anyone has ever met, an authentic pioneer who has produced everything from limited edition masterpieces to evanescent ephemera as well as keepsake broadsides, captivating advertisements, an abundance of newspapers, multiple journals, and a million packaged books for major publishers.”
Born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Reid’s family moved to Vancouver when he was nine. That same year he received a toy printing press for Christmas, and discovered a passion for typography and design that became the central thread for his life. While attending the University of British Columbia he was inspired to undertake printing an entire book, which he completed in 1949. The book (The Fraser Mines Vindicated, 1949) was the first from Canada to win a Rounce and Coffin Club award for design, which helped convince Reid his future was in printing. Upon graduating he started a printing business in downtown Vancouver, attracting the attention of architects, galleries, and other artistic clients who appreciated his love for design and typography.
A significant ongoing client was The Library Quarterly, an academic and literary journal edited by George Woodcock, which Reid embellished with colorful artwork by local artists. Working with Woodcock brought Reid into contact with Vancouver’s literary and artistic communities, which led to more projects. It was during this time that he also met Takao Tanabe, then a young artist looking to establish a career. They worked together for several years, including a collaboration on Reid’s second private press book (Gold, 1958).
In 1962, Reid received a Canada Council grant to visit type foundries, printers and paper makers in Europe and the UK. When the tour ended, Reid made his home in Montreal where he became a designer for McGill University Press. For the next decade he oversaw not only the academic publications but also undertook numerous special projects printed in-house under his direction. In 1976, he moved to New Haven and launched a successful career as a freelance book packager for major publishers, while also maintaining his own personal print shop for creating broadsides and other “fine printing” projects.
Reid returned to Vancouver in 1998. While he no longer had his own printing equipment, he soon found himself among the latest generation of young people interested in typography, printing, and design. He collaborated on a number of publications over the next two decades, and undertook his five-volume autobiography and other works full of bold graphics and playful typography.
UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections is honoured to hold the Robert Reid fonds, which includes printwork from a variety of presses, examples of printed material at various stages in the publication process, and research and reference material relating to design and printing. The Library collection also holds a number of Reid’s finished books and other print projects.
To quote again from Dr. Wosk’s 2007 tribute, Reid’s “art came to reflect universal archetypes in the cradle of a page.” He will be sorely missed.
Thank you to Rollin Milroy of Heavenly Monkey for kindly providing the text of Dr. Wosk’s address and Reid’s biography.