Oak Knoll

This fine letterpress work is an edition limited to only 225 numbered copies, of which 180 are pre-subscribed (Berger A61; Leaf Book - Chalmers 215). Henry Morris's Bird & Bull Press has now published a new Dard Hunter book, which aims to "provide a reasonable taste of the original [The Life Work of Dard Hunter,1981-1983], sufficient perhaps to appreciate the unstinting quality of the artistry and uncommon skill that was lavished on this work," and to provide additional material, including some on Dard Hunter II. The introduction by Mr. Morris is followed by Dard Hunter II's account of the writing of his father's biography, followed in turn by Dard Hunter III's short account of the life of Dard II, with color plates. Dard Hunter & Son documents Hunter's early Roycroft days, studies in Vienna, stained-glass windows, first paper mill in Marlborough NY, early watermarks, typefounding experiments, the move to "Mountain House," brief venture into large-scale hand papermaking, later moulds and watermarks, and publications. Each topic is complemented by appropriate illustrations. There are three tipped-in-plates with 55 color reproductions of swatches of marbled and paste papers done by Hunter in his Vienna days, three samples (reprintings by Bird & Bull) of 2-color page or cover designs done for the Roycrofters, photos of the Marlborough Mill and a reduced-size reprint of a Dard Hunter poster drawing of the mill, original leaves from various publications, a bound-in sample of paper made by Dard Hunter and two by his son, tipped-in photos of Dard Hunter demonstrating papermaking at MIT in 1946, and a tipped-in facsimile of a page of notes made by Dard Hunter while visiting an English paper mill. The book concludes with a ten-page facsimile of the journal kept by Dard Hunter II while writing the Life Work. In all, there are about seventy individual text illustrations or facsimiles, twenty or so tipped-in plates, and sixteen printings or reprintings by the Hunters and print reproductions by Bird & Bull. This work is set in Ehrhardt type and printed on Frankfurt mould made paper at Bird & Bull. The multi-talented Dard Hunter (1883-1966), who eventually settled upon papermaking and the history of paper as his life's work, is a person of considerable interest in the recent history of the book arts. Relatively little, however, of a biographical nature has been published about him: chiefly his own autobiography of 1958, and the Life Work of Dard Hunter by his son, Dard Hunter II (1917-1989), itself an impressive work printed in Dard Hunter II's own type and produced in a very limited edition in the early 1980s. Also includes a prospectus.