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
The first-hand account of the fabulous years recorded in this book has
been assembled from separate papers written by Mr. Bradley at different
times since 1949. No attempt has been made to unify the varying tenses,
or modify the sometimes first-person sometimes second-person style of
the author in these different memoirs. An attempt _has_ been made to
connect these papers into one continuing narrative. To this end, some
editing of over-lapping material and cutting of repetitious passages
seemed essential.
The sources: A booklet titled _Memories: 1875-1895_, printed for the
Typophiles and other friends by Grant Dahlstrom in Pasadena, 1949;
another titled _Picture of a Period, or Memories of the Gay Nineties_,
printed for the Rounce and Coffin Club of Los Angeles (also by
Dahlstrom) in 1950; the Huntington Library hand list, _Will Bradley:
His Work_, 1951 (again printed by Dahlstrom). The fourth source item is
“Will Bradley’s Magazine Memories,” from the _Journal_ of the American
Institute of Graphic Arts (Vol. III, No. 1, 1950).
Like most Typophile projects, this has been in process for many months.
Though obviously a cooperative effort, much of the muscle and mind
needed to shape and form it has been contributed by Peter Beilenson. He
not only attended to the design and printing at his Peter Pauper Press,
but also helped materially in its editing.
The alluring prospect of additional illustrations for these pages was
reluctantly passed by. Our physical limitations and resources proved
inadequate to reflect the qualities, and the scope and variety of Mr.
Bradley’s work. Examples of his colorful designing and illustrating may
be seen in the comprehensive collections at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, and the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. A
brief selection is shown in _The Penrose Annual_, 1955.
Despite his years, Mr. Bradley generously offered to develop the
typographic plan of this book, and rewrite the entire text to further
illumine certain passages. He also suggested he make new drawings to
replace those on chapter pages, which were drawn in 1949 to enhance the
solid text pages of the _Memories_ booklet (The type ornaments on these
pages were drawn in 1953 for ATF.) This considerable task seemed an
unnecessary burden, particularly since Mr. Bradley had reflected with
characteristic charm and candor the recollections of his great years.
Like every artist and craftsman of stature, he remains his own severest
critic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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