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.”

Despite their glow, these words spell a clear appraisal of this man’s talents and graphic spirit. Ahead of his times, Mr. Bradley proved a pace-setting pioneer whose work was so fresh that its vitality is as measurable in the specimens of Strathmore and ATF, as in the Hearst periodical pages. Particularly when compared with that of his contemporaries, as Walter Dorwin Teague points out in his perceptive introduction.

Mr. Bradley was born in Boston in 1868. His father, a newspaper cartoonist, died when he was eight. Four years later his mother moved to Ishpeming, a small iron-mining town in northern Michigan. Here, he became a printer’s devil on the local newspaper.

The brief chronology of events in his legendary career (pp. 92-96) reveals pertinent details of the early years as art department apprentice with Rand McNally, Chicago map-makers, and as free-lance artist. He soon won recognition for his cover designs and drawings for Harper’s Weekly and The Inland Printer, and posters for Stone and Kimball’s Chap Book.

In 1895 he returned to New England to set up his Wayside Press in Springfield, Mass. He was twenty-seven then, had just designed his first sample book for Strathmore, and developed publishing plans for Bradley: His Book. Volume one, number one was dated May, 1896; the subscription price, one dollar the year. The cover was a poster treatment of a tree on a grassy hilltop; the frontispiece was by Edward Penfield, himself the subject of a lead article. Center spread pages, decidedly in the Kelmscott manner, were devoted to a poem by Harriet Monroe, with a floriated border surrounding the text in caps. The body type was the ATF version of the Morris Golden face.

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.

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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.

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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.

Numerous other friends have helped with this book: Among them, Arthur W. Rushmore and Edmund B. Thompson in its early planning; Robert B. Clark, Jr., and his colleagues at Strathmore; Nicholas A. Meyer, David SilvÉ, Stevens L. Watts and Robert H. Wessmann—each has been quick to answer every call, as has Will Bradley. For myself, it has been a memorable and rewarding book-making experience to work with these good friends, as it is a privilege to record here the indebtedness of The Typophiles for their invaluable and generous assistance.

Paul A. Bennett

Typophile Chap Books: 30