W. A. Dwiggins Collection

Collection

Call Number: AOB 67

Scope and Contents

The W. A. Dwiggins Collection contains examples of graphic design by William Addison Dwiggins, who worked from the early to mid-20th century. The materials range from original drawings to both business and personal designs.

Dates

1919-1950

Creator

Dwiggins, W. A. (William Addison), 1880-1956

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Ruth E. Adomeit, 1994, and collected by Arts of the Book Collection curators.

Arrangement

Organized into two series: I. Design Examples. II. Articles about Dwiggins and Other Design Examples.

Extent

0.83 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/arts.aob.0067

Additional Description

Overview

Biographical / Historical

William Addison Dwiggins was born in Martinsville, OH, in 1880. He studied in Chicago at the Frank Holme School of Illustration, where he was influenced, among others, by typographer Frederic W. Goudy. Dwiggins ran his own printing firm in Ohio for a short time, but in 1904 he moved to Hingham, MA – a community near Boston that had embraced William Morris’s Arts and Crafts movement. Goudy himself was a resident at the time, and Dwiggins remained in Hingham until his death in 1956.

Dwiggins worked as a book designer, typographer, illustrator, and writer. He designed and illustrated books for publishers such as Alfred A. Knopf, Random House, and the Limited Editions Club. He also designed a number of typefaces for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.

Source: Roy R. Behrens, “Dwiggins, William Addison,” in Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Accessed 23 Nov. 2010, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T098010.