The Wit and Whimsy of W. A. Dwiggins
The Wit and Whimsy of W. A. Dwiggins
From GBP 3.00
Location
Date
Description
The Wit and Whimsy of W. A. Dwiggins
Bruce Kennett
16 February 2021
7.00–8.30pm GMT
Online via Zoom
Tickets: £3–5
Please note: you will be emailed the Zoom link for the talk at 6pm GMT on the day of the talk.
William Addison Dwiggins (1880–1956) is best known as a designer of printing types and books. His Caledonia and Electra types have been used to compose the text in countless thousands of books published since the 1930s. Dwiggins also established the visual style for Alfred A. Knopf and served for decades as their principal book designer.
“WAD” was equally talented in other arenas: he was a virtuoso calligrapher, printmaker (woodcuts and stencils), illustrator, cartographer, watercolourist, sculptor, and maker of furniture and tools. He remains famous in the puppet world for his imaginative marionettes, and the sets and lighting he designed for productions at his two private theatres. In addition to his marionette plays, WAD also wrote satire, fiction, fantasy, and essays about print production and design. Additionally, he was expert at building and flying kites.
An engaging aspect of Dwiggins’s work is the consistent presence of whimsy and humour. He employed his sharp wit for the simple pleasures of fun, but also often used satire to promote change, in the belief that irony could be a more effective source of transformation than scolding or finger-wagging. Throughout his life, Dwiggins concocted fake documents and prodded the establishment in myriad ways, inventing colourful personalities to serve as his noms de plume in what — at first glance — seemed to be serious articles. To implement these schemes he used drawings and words in equal measures, which will be reviewed in detail in this presentation.
Bruce Kennett, author of the acclaimed biography W. A. Dwiggins: A Life in Design (Letterform Archive, 2018), is a book designer, photographer, calligrapher, printer, teacher, and writer. He has been passionately interested in WAD since 1972 – when he discovered the Dwiggins Collection at the Boston Public Library – and lectures widely about various aspects of Dwiggins’s life and career. Please join us as Bruce presents his favourite moments of WAD’s creative impulses, from the serious to the downright silly. He promises a mirthful time for all.
Ticket is non-refundable, however you are welcome to offer your ticket to another person or reschedule the date of your visit. Please contact events@sbf.org.uk to change the date/event of your booking at least 7 days prior to the event date.
Part of our ‘Celebrating 125 Years of St Bride Library’, this lecture series has kindly been sponsored by:
Adobe
Commercial Type
Eye Magazine
Eric de Bellaigue
Jerry Wright
Just Another Foundry
Klim Type Foundry
Lexon GB, Creative & Innovative Print
Mayor of London
Medioto - Graphics & Animation
Peter Longland
R-Typography
Type By
Usborne Publishing
and The Wynkyn de Worde Charitable Trust who have sponsored students and recent graduates across the UK to attend this lecture.
Organiser
Established in 1891 with a clear social and cultural purpose, St Bride Foundation is one of London’s hidden gems.
Housed in a beautiful Grade II listed Victorian building, St Bride Foundation was originally set up to serve the burgeoning print and publishing trade of nearby Fleet Street, and is now finding a new contemporary audience of designers, printmakers and typographers who come to enjoy a regular programme of design events and workshops.
Many thousands of books, printing-related periodicals and physical objects are at the heart of St Bride Library. Volumes on the history of printing, typography, newspaper design and paper-making jostle for space alongside one of the world’s largest and most significant collections of type specimens. The printed, written, carved and cast word may be found at St Bride in its myriad forms. Architectural lettering and examples of applied typography in many media, together with substantial collections of steel punches and casting matrices for metal types are also held in this eclectic collection. The Reading Room is open to visitors twice a month and on other days by appointment. Although we operate on a cost-neutral basis, it is necessary to charge for some of our services. Details are available by emailing the library team at library@sbf.org.uk.
St Bride retains many of its original features, including the baths, laundry, printing rooms and library. As part of the Foundation’s original mission to provide for the community, many of the building’s unique and characterful spaces are available to hire whether for meetings, weddings or classes.
St Bride also houses the popular Bridewell Theatre, and Bridewell Bar (once the laundry), and hosts a year-round programme of plays, comedy, music and exhibitions.
With some 65,000 visitors a year St Bride Foundation is a major London hub for the creative arts in London. We look forward to welcoming you soon.
Venue
St Bride Foundation St Bride Foundation, 14 Bride Ln, EC4Y 8EQ London
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The Wit and Whimsy of W. A. Dwiggins
From GBP 3.00