William addison dwiggins quotes about friendship

“Ornament is a music of space.”
—William Addison Dwiggins

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

Like the fleurons of early printers, he designed ornament that harmonized with type, “not by reworking elements culled from early printed books; rather by making his own designs,” said Dorothy Abbe, Dwiggins’ long-time assistant.

This was something I experienced firsthand on a recent used bookstore sojourn, when I happened to come across a copy of Thomas Dreier’s The Power of Print—and Men.

The book was“designed and decorated,” according to the colophon, by Dwiggins and published by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company in 1936. I was instantly drawn to the bold pattern of random geometric shapes blanketing the paper covers.

Inside the book, striking headpieces constructed out of the same shapes introduce