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| Charles
Skaggs, born in 1917, grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. While in
high school he apprenticed in an art studio, where he learned the
fundamentals of printing processes. At the age of nineteen, he went
to Chicago and soon made his mark designing advertising art, packaging,
and posters. In Chicago he was introduced to the art of book design
by Chicago bibliophiles, including Raymond DaBoll, who showed him
the work of William Addison Dwiggins. |
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Skaggs
moved to New York City in 1945 and quickly established himself
as a freelance book jacket designer. He worked on books and jackets
for the Limited Editions Club and for the publisher Alfred A.
Knopf. Skaggs career eventually changed from being an independent designer to
working as art director for a variety of publishing houses—Silver,
Burdette and Company, Washington Square Press (Simon & Schuster),
Harper & Row’s college book division, and lastly, the trade
book division of Macmillan Publishing Company. In 1969 he left
Macmillan and returned to Kentucky. He continued to work as a
freelance designer for New York firms and for the University of
Kentucky. Skaggs moved to Colorado in 1981, and later to his current
home in Washington state.
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WEB COLLECTION
The
collection of book jackets on this website is a selection of digitized
versions of book jackets designed by Charles Skaggs throughout
his career. The selection available here is only part of the Mortimer
Rare Book Room's collection, and is designed to accompany the
exhibition of Skaggs' work, which can be seen here.
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| Early
work
1950-1954
1955-1959
1960-1969
1970-1974
1975-1979
1980-present
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According
to Skaggs, throughout the 1940s and 1950s the design of trade book
jackets was the most consistent and lucrative outlet for calligraphers.
The standard rate for a lettered jacket in 1946 was $75.00. By 1970,
with designs likely to be more typographic than calligraphic, the
rate was between $200.00 and $300.00 per jacket. This increase in
payment was not due to inflation alone, but also the increased status
of designers “as publishers became more aware of the importance
of visual appeal in promoting sales.” |
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November 20, 2006
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