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Chemists' Club watermark collection
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Held at: Science History Institute Archives [Contact Us]315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Science History Institute Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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William Joseph "Dard" Hunter was born in Steubenville Ohio on November 29, 1883. After attending Ohio State University he took a job at the Arts and Crafts-inspired Rycrofters Press of Elbert Hubbard. Hunter decided to study in Europe to deepen his knowledge of his craft and it was there that he first learned about fine papermaking while studying bookmaking and design in Vienna. A 1911 exhibition on hand-making fired him with the desire to construct his own water-powered papermill. By 1913 he was ready to begin creating unique papers using 17th century papermaking techniques. This plant came to be known as Mill House. By 1915 Hunter had finished hand-cutting typeface punches and his next step was to print books using both handmade paper and hand-cut type. Between 1922 and 1956 he produced eight handmade books at his Mountain House Press. He later branched into handicrafts as well. He died at his home-and-studio in Chillicothe, Ohio on February 20, 1966.
While his collection does not contain all of the paper types created by Hunter, it includes a goodly selection of them. The pieces assembled the Exposition of Chemical Industries is a catch-as-catch-can affair, but also contains a nice selection of examples for study purposes, included some by other eminent paper-makers.
This is a collection of fine writing papers. One portion consists of commercial papers with unique watermarks and seems to have been solicited from various sources between 1923 and 1927 for an Exposition of Chemical Industries. The Second portion consists of a selection of hand-made papers by the American designer and papermaker Dard Hunter.
Formerly in the Library of the Chemists' Club, New York City.
Source of acquisition--Chemists Club. Method of acquisition--Gift;.
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