(above) Washington Irving (1783-1859), Rip Van Winkle (East Aurora, N.Y.: Roycroft Shop, 1905). Initials & title-page by Dard Hunter (1883-1966). Gift of David B. Long, in honor of Gillett G. Griffin. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2007-3529N
(below) Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Nature (East Aurora, N.Y.: Roycroft Shop, 1905). Initials, title-page, and colophon by Dard Hunter (1883-1966). Gift of David B. Long, in honor of Gillett G. Griffin. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2007-3634N
From 1904 to 1910 Dard Hunter was a Roycrofter, working for Elbert Hubbard (186-1915) at the Roycroft Shop, an art and crafts collective in East Aurora, New York. Rip Van Winkle and Nature are among his first published book designs for the group, where he also designed stain glass and other handcrafts.
Eventually Hunter tired of their repetitive, communal book production and left the Roycrofters to study traditional European typography and papermaking. He wrote, “My mind, however, does not run East Aurora way as I believe I have fully recovered from the disease. Poetically speaking, I have been vaccinated by the virus of something better, something nearer the ideal. My time is spent, I believe, as my mind seldom reaches back to that beautiful little village with its surface of good cheer and its gizzard of strife, jealousy and hate.” —The Life Work of Dard Hunter (GA Oversize TS1098.H8 H86f)
