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Willis Meeker Hawley (July 7, 1896 – November 15, 1987) was a publisher and collector of Japanese swords

Biography

Early life and education

Willis M. Hawley was born in Chattaqua, New York, on July 7, 1896 to Lucius Everett Hawley and Francis Maria Meeker. After attending public schools in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania, he spent three years at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He completed training for the airforce at the School of Military Aeronautics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1919 and was commisssioned 2nd Lieutenant, S.O.R.C. in May, 1919. Hawley served in World War I from February 1917 to May 1919. He married Lillian Chandler on November 22, 1919.

Sword Theft

In 1981, more than 150 Japanese swords valued at $1 million were stolen from Hawley's home in the Hollywood Hills. Three of the stolen swords were recovered in 1988 after attempts to sell them on the antique market, but the bulk of the collection was lost.

Published Works

Books

• Chinese Folk Design: A Collection of Cut-Paper Designs Used for Embroidery, Together with 160 Chinese Art Symbols and Their Meanings (1949)
• Japanese Swordsmiths: 13,500 Names Used by about 12,000 Swordsmiths from 700 to 1900 A.D. (1966)
• Tsubas in Southern California (1973?)
• False Signatures on Swords (1974)
• Laminating Techniques in Japanese Swords (1974)
• Mon: The Japanese Family Crest (1976)
• O-yoroi, the Great Harness (1977)

Charts

• Chinese Seal Characters: The 540 Radicals of the Shuo Wen Dictionary and Their Modern Forms Arranged in the Order of the Kang Hsi Dictionary (1943?)
• Chinese Art Symbols (1945)
• Chinese Bronzes (1946)
• Chinese Dynasties (1953)