William Addison Dwiggins: Stencilled Ornament and Illustration (Expanded Edition)

Hardcover | 17.78 x 1.27 x 26.04 cm | 112 pp

Princeton Architectural Press | 2015 | 9781616893750

This is a survey of work by one of the greatest book designers of all time, William Addison Dwiggins (1880-1955). The book illustrates Dwiggins’s step-by-step method of creating complex stencils by adding one line at a time to a design. Originally in black and white, this new edition includes an additional section reproducing his stencil designs in full colour.

The original letterpress publication of 1979 was printed by Dorothy Abbe in an edition of 120 copies. In 1980 the Friends of the Boston Public Library published a small paperback edition of approximately 500 to commemorate their extensive collection of Dwiggins’s work.

Dwiggins is considered one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century. In his heyday between 1920 and up to his death, he designed over 275 books in their entirety for Alfred A. Knopf. He also designed more than a dozen typefaces, including Caledonia, and Electra, as well as an assortment of exquisite and stylish ornaments.
He was also a master puppeteer, calligrapher, and illustrator.

“When the American type and lettering virtuoso W.A. Dwiggins turned his hand to stencil making. the design world realised that this otherwise primitive method had
reached its true level of sophistication. This reprint of Dorothy Abbe’s celebration returns Dwiggins stencil lettering and ornament to its rightful place as high typographic art.!” STEVEN HELLER