Dard Hunter was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1883. His family moved to Chillicothe, Ohio, where their interests were in printing and ceramic businesses. Dard was a staff artist for the Chillicothe News-Advertiser and also a craftsman in metalwork and furniture making. From 1904-1910 Hunter was associated with the Roycrofters in East Aurora, New York. He left New York for Europe and worked in Vienna and London before returning to the States in 1911. When he returned, his career with hand papermaking, type founding, and printing began.

His first printing establishment was in Marlborough-on-Hudson, New York, and later at the Mountain House in Chillicothe. Hunter was not satisfied with just practicing the art of papermaking and printing. He traveled and studied paper making all over the world. He became the foremost authority on the subject. His outstanding scholarship was published in magnificent volumes using the exotic papers he gathered in his travels.

By the time of his death in 1966, Dard Hunter was responsible for a renaissance in hand papermaking and printing. Today, scholars, historians, and artists interested in papermaking and printing are still inspired. He was a maker of books in all their components: text, paper, and type, combined through printing. Dard Hunter remains an artist, craftsman, writer, and world-renowned scholar.

This exhibit, curated by Judith Connick, Special Collections Librarian, follows three themes and features items from the collections of the Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections. To view the three aspects of this exhibit, please use the navigation at the top of the page: designer, publisher, and scholar.