Roycroft prints collection

The Roycroft Campus was developed by Elbert Hubbard in East Aurora, New York in 1897 to produce brightly illustrated books and monthly publications. Hubbard was an author and entrepreneur inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th to early 20th century in England. The movement emphasized decorative arts with simple designs. Following the success of Hubbard's essay, "Message to Garcia," the Roycroft campus expanded to fourteen buildings and five-hundred employees. The most notable buildings were the Roycroft Inn, the Roycroft Print Shop with twenty-three presses, and the Roycroft Chapel. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1986, but fell upon hard times in 1989. The Roycroft Campus Corporation was created in 1995 to restore the site and revive the Roycroft decorative arts style. Historical information adapted from https://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/index.php/about/history/the-roycroft-campus (accessed January 2019)

William Joseph "Dard" Hunter was born in Steubenville, Ohio in 1883. He worked as a typesetter and staff artist for his father's newspapers in Steubenville and Chillicothe after a move to the area in 1900. In June 1904, at the height of the Roycroft's popularity, Hunter applied for a summer position with Eldert Hubbard but was denied due to a lack of experience. He was offered a job when he showed up to the campus in July 1904. His first tasks were to design stained glass windows for the Roycroft Inn and title pages for Roycroft Press books. Hunter married the Roycroft pianist Edith Cornell in 1908 and strengthened the Roycroft style to differentiate it from other arts and crafts communities in the United States. He left the Roycroft Campus in 1910 to study in Vienna then focused on papermaking after seeing an exhibit in the London Science Museum. Hunter returned to Chillicothe, Ohio in 1919 and published twenty papermaking books before passing away in 1966. Historical information adapted from https://www.dardhunter.com/About.htm (accessed January 2019)