Will Bradley, His Chap Book: An account, in the words of the dean of American typographers, of his graphic arts adventures ...Bradley, Will
History
Will Bradley, His Chap Book: An account, in the words of the dean of American typographers, of his graphic arts adventures ...
Bradley, Will
Bradley, Will, 1868-1962; Printers -- United States -- Biography; Printing -- United States -- History
_Bradley: His Book_ was planned as an art and literary magazine, and
also “a technical journal for those engaged in the art of printing.”
Seven issues comprised its life span; the first four varied slightly
from the initial 5¼ × 10½ inch size; the last three (of volume
two) were 8 × 11 inches. A note indicated that “advertisements are
newly prepared for each number without extra cost.” Products promoted
included writing and printing papers, type, ink, periodicals, a
“talking” machine, auto tires, baking and washing powder, and soap. A
further note evidenced concern for design and typography, mentioning
that “advertisements may be appropriately illustrated by any artist,
provided the character of design and execution are suitable for pages
of this magazine. Text on electrotypes will be reset in type from
_Bradley: His Book_ fonts.”
From this point on, the Bradley career moved into high gear. In 1900 he
was commissioned by the _Ladies’ Home Journal_ to design eight full
pages of house interiors; he also designed a roman and italic type.
Three years later, at thirty-five, he headed a typographic and
publicity campaign for ATF (1903), and wrote and designed their famous
_Chap Books_. In 1907 he was art editor of _Collier’s_; and from
1910 to 1915 the simultaneous art editor for _Good Housekeeping_,
_Metropolitan_, _Success_, _Pearson’s_ and _National Post_. Then in
his early forties, he dipped into the field of the motion picture as
art supervisor of serials for William Randolph Hearst. In 1918 he was
writing and directing motion pictures independently. Two years later
he rejoined the Hearst organization as art and typographic supervisor
for their newspapers, magazines and motion pictures. In 1930, age
sixty-two, he retired to southern California.
* * * * *
Of the Bradley renaissance a quarter-century later, a single design
accomplishment seems significant: The 1954 Portfolio in the Strathmore
distinguished designer series, begun in California in 1951, completed
early in 1954 and introduced at a luncheon sponsored jointly by the
Typophiles and Strathmore, held at the New York University Club. The
date was just a few months short of sixty years from that significant
day when the first paper-use specimen was issued by Strathmore in
Mittineague.
Among the speakers paying tribute were Edwin H. Carpenter of the
Huntington Library; Thomas Maitland Cleland, designer and artist; A.
Hyatt Mayor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Frederic G. Melcher,
dean of American publishers; Carl Purington Rollins, printer emeritus
to Yale University; Walter Dorwin Teague, industrial designer, F.
Nelson Bridgham, Strathmore president, and the undersigned reporter,
who served as toastmaster.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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