William Addison Dwiggins

This year’s 18^th Annual Book Arts & Special Collections Holiday Lecture celebrates the life and work of William Addison Dwiggins, a self-taught man of many, many skills. He referred to himself as a “Black and White-Smith” and if you are wondering what that means, please join us on 
January 4^th, at 2pm in the Koret Auditorium to find out.

Dwiggins, was born on June 19, 1880 and died on Christmas Day 1956. As you can see above, he had a significant mop of hair and, to top it off, an enormously appealing sense of humor to go along with his various talents.  

 He was, among other things:

A Letterer*, 

 Calligrapher*,

Illustrator*, 

Advertising designer* and

Writer*

He was also a Designer of Books*, 

Modular Ornaments*, 

And Type*.

In Addition to all of this,

he was a even a Marionette Maker*!

At one point he had an idea to start a calligraphy group. Not having any members didn't discourage him from creating an imaginary character named Hermann Püterschein to serve as President for his newly created Society of Calligraphers. Here's an amusing quote from the note he wrote to Frederick Goudy in 1907 about this:

Have had a big idea for some months that it would be good fun to start a Society of Calligraphers or something like that, damned exclusive and toppy—the two of us to begin with, in fact—devoted solely to fine lettering and writing.**

It has been said that to quote Dwiggins is the best way to demonstrate his unusual genius***. So, here's another quotable bit to savor--this time about book design:

    The jackets are very jolly things. There is only one count against them: they have taken the joy out of book covers.****

His remarkable text from The Structure of A Book, originally written in 1927, 
 is still spot-on and relevant today. 

Oh, by the way, did I mention that in 1922, Dwiggins coined the term “graphic designer?"

 

Pictured above is his postage stamp* design from 1940 commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Invention of Printing from Moveable Type for the 
American Institute of Graphic Arts.

And if that's not enough to pique your interest, how's this for an epitaph:

It was a grand adventure

I am content

Book Arts & Special Collections Center 

Celebrating 50 Years: 1964-2014

presents the 18th Annual Holiday Lecture

William Addison Dwiggins: "Black and White-Smith"

a visually brilliant, fun, and fascinating talk

 by Rob Saunders on 

Saturday, January 4, 2014 

2pm

in the Koret Auditorium, Main Library, Lower Level

Saunders is a devoted collector of Dwigginsiana and the curator of the Letterform Archive. He collects “inspirational analog artifacts to digitize in high fidelity, for all who love letters.” He has been collecting for over 35 years while pursuing a career as a designer, teacher, publisher, and consultant.

*Images courtesy of Rob Saunders and his presentation entitled William Addison Dwiggins, Black & White Smith which was presented at TypeCon in 2013.

**from The Calligraphic Side of W.A. Dwiggins by Bruce Kennett. (Alphabet, v.17, Autumn 2013) 

***See Terrence Chouinard's article William A. Dwiggins: Master of Typography and Type Design. 

****from The Structure of A Book by W.A. Dwiggins. (Typophile Monograph XV, 1945)

 

*****postage stamp image courtesy of Book Arts & Special Collections Center, San Francisco Public Library

See also: Alastair Johnston's Father of Graphic Design: Dwiggins in Living Color, for more entertaining and informative information about WAD.