Josephy, Robert S. (1903-1993). American book designer. Born on Long Island, Robert Josephy began working for Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. at age seventeen in 1920, learning the trade of book design on the job. He was involved in the design of the jacket for Cather’s novel The Professor’s House (1925). In late 1925, he left the firm to begin a long and distinguished career as a freelance book designer. After buying an orchard in Connecticut he became active in environmentalism and liberal politics in the state. The University of Iowa Press published his autobiography Taking Part: A Twentieth Century Life shortly before his death.

Falls, Charles Buckles (1874-1960). American artist and illustrator. Born in Fort Wayne, IN, in his early twenties Charles Falls worked in Chicago, IL, as an architect’s draftsman, as a sketch artist for the Chicago Tribune, in advertising, and as a free-lance magazine and book illustrator. Around 1900 he moved to New York City and developed the bold, graphic style for which he became known. Falls incorporated woodcuts into his designs and is best known for his World War I propaganda posters and for the ABC Book (1923). At his most popular in the 1920s, his illustrations appeared in Collier’s, Everybody’s, Adventure, and Cosmopolitan, and he also designed book dust jackets. Cather did not like the jacket he designed for The Professor’s House (1925).