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Letterform Archive

Sprigs, Leaves, and Flowers: Stenciled Ornaments from W. A. Dwiggins

$22.95

MSRP:

Available for pre-order. Expected release date is July 18, 2025.

A selection of lively stenciled embellishments by W. A. Dwiggins, reproduced in a suite of 20 notecards with accompanying envelopes

In the 1920s, graphic designer William Addison Dwiggins developed a delicate visual language composed of tiny geometric elements. He cut these modular shapes into celluloid stencils and used them to create abstract typographic ornaments, elegant architectural motifs, intricate page borders, and delightful allover patterns in his book designs. Dwiggins referred to these organic vignettes, which he first experimented with in woodblock printing, as “sprigs, leaves, and flowers.” Initially printed in a commercial booklet of paper samples, Dwiggins’s cheerful decorations find a new home in this stationery set, printed on special paper and presented in a keepsake box.

William Addison Dwiggins (1880–1956) was among the most influential and innovative artists of his generation. He experimented with a wide variety of passions, including as a master calligrapher, type designer, illustrator, marionette artist, and private press printer. A pioneer of advertising, magazine, and book design, he was also a quintessential maker— fabricating his own tools, mastering traditional skills, and inventing new techniques. His most notable projects include his many book designs for publisher Alfred A. Knopf and his typefaces Metro (1929), Electra (1935), and Caledonia (1938).

Details

Publication date September 9, 2025
ISBN 979-8-9916212-2-9
Size 5 ⨉ 3 inches
Format 20 unique notecards with envelopes in a keepsake box


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