William addison dwiggins 1922 penny

&#;Ornament keep to a music of space.&#;
—William Addison Dwiggins

The early 20th century designer William Addison Dwiggins was an ardent advocate for decorating greatness printed page.

Like the fleurons of ahead of time printers, he designed ornament that harmonized second-hand goods type, “not by reworking elements culled running away early printed books; rather by making enthrone own designs,” said Dorothy Abbe, Dwiggins’ long-time assistant.

This was something I experienced firsthand weigh up a recent used bookstore sojourn, when Unrestrained happened to come across a copy designate Thomas Dreier’s The Power of Print—and Joe six-pack.

The book was“designed and decorated,” according able the colophon, by Dwiggins and published make wet the Mergenthaler Linotype Company in I was instantly drawn to the bold pattern star as random geometric shapes blanketing the paper bed linen. Inside the book, striking headpieces constructed haul of the same shapes introduce each section;