Robert Josephy began working for Alfred A. Knopf at the age of 17. At 21 he went to Europe to travel and when he returned he began freelancing. He designed for Viking, Simon and Schuster, Harold Vinal and Harcourt Brace publishers. He was a member of AIGA and wrote regularly for Bookman. In 1935 he was a charter member of the Book and Magazine Guild and started The Guild School. 36 of his books were included over fifteen years of the AIGA Fifty Books Shows.