“I have never known any guide other than what to me happened to look right.”--w. b.
Few names in the annals of American typography gleam as brightly as Will Bradley’s. Even fewer have made so varied a graphic contribution as this gentle man, now eighty-six and revered as dean of American typographers.
In May, 1954, he was awarded the coveted gold medal of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. The citation, necessarily brief around the rim, recalled one phase of his accomplishments: “To Will Bradley for a half-century of typographic achievement.”
A more revealing summary would be found in the commendation of the Rounce and Coffin Club award, presented at the Huntington Library in October, 1950. The Club held its special meeting to honor Mr. Bradley (then living in nearby Pasadena), and preview the Huntington retrospective Bradley exhibition, which included examples of his book design and illustration; articles and stories written; cover and poster design; type and type ornament for American Type Founders; and printing. Some seventy items were displayed, ranging from the Ishpeming (Michigan) _Iron Ore_ masthead, designed in 1886, to a Christmas greeting drawn in 1948.
The award, for distinguished contributions to fine printing, read: “_Because_ he has for seventy years been a source of creative inspiration in all the varied arts to which he has put his mind and hand; _Because_ he found American printing at the end of the last century in a dreary condition, held up to it the examples of the early colonial printers, revived the simplicity and dignity of Pickering and caused to flourish again the use of Caslon and the other old style types; _Because_ he created a wealth of new ornamentation and by his own demonstration introduced many original uses of ink, paper and bookbinding; _Because_ he redesigned the American magazine and gave to it the charm of a new outer garment with each appearance; _Because_ he cast the illumination of his talents upon the art of the poster, the children’s book, and even the motion picture; _Because_ his great direct aid and even greater inspiration have been acknowledged by many American typographers, including such leaders as Frederic W. Goudy, W. A. Dwiggins, Oswald Cooper and T. M. Cleland; _And finally_ because he has not ceased to be for the printers of our day, as for those of two previous generations, an inexhaustible fountain of kindly encouragement and new discoveries.”