Papermakers

This volume, entitled “Arbres de l’Amérique,” consists of 157 original pencil drawings (exact copies reduced to one third of the originals) of engraving taken from paintings by P.J. Redouté and Pancrace Bessa done for Francois-Andre Michaux’s North American Sylva, Paris, 1817-1819.

Martha L. Carothers is a book artist and Professor Emerita of Art and Design at the University of Delaware who specializes in graphic design and book arts (typography, book design, bookbinding, and letterpress printing). This collection comprises paper sample catalogs and art and design publications collected by Carothers in support of her teaching and artistic activities.

Diary written by H. A. Emerson, nineteenth century paper mill owner in Franklin, Massachusetts. Entries focus on paper mill production and success, weather, local social events, family travels, with brief mentions of national political affairs in 1864.

Delaware papermaker Robert Gilmour's handwritten and signed letter to Philadelphia printer William Young documents the birth of a Delaware paper mill in 1794.

Original sheet of creamy white handmade paper created by Dard Hunter, which has the watermark of Dard Hunter's name above a press within a circle under which is the word "MILL" and the date "1913" divided to read: "19 MILL 13." The mould for this watermark was purchased by Hunter from T. J. Marshall, London, on January 20, 1913 and the paper is one of the earliest produced by Dard Hunter. [Sonte & Dugal. Dard Hunter Watermarks, plate 42.]

J. Barcham Green, Ltd., collection of paper specimens consists of ten specimens of threaded papers, with an autograph letter signed written by J. Barcham Green, Ltd., to Bertram Rota Limited on March 8, 1962.

This notebook belonged to an English papermaking apprentice in the 1890s and contains instructions and recipes for making paper as well as poetry.

Michael Peich is an emeritus professor of English at West Chester University. In 1982, he founded the Aralia Press, a fine arts press used to teach university students the art of printing. The Michael Peich paper specimens catalogs collection comprises American and worldwide paper manufacturers’ sample books sent to Peich and Aralia Press from 1977-2008, largely advertising hand- and machine-made art and printing paper.

Asao Shimura (born 1950) is a papermaker and authority on papermaking techniques and historical papermaking processes. He has published over twenty-five miniature handmade books documenting the history of papermaking and natural dyeing processes. Shimura exchanged letters and various paper samples with English printer Gilbert A. Beale between 1978 and 1980.

Frank W. Tober collected this wide variety of paper specimens and samples from around the world, including manufacturer's paper sample books, catalogs, individual paper specimens, and a portion of St. Louis collector and bookbinder Francis T. Guelker's collection on the history and craft of bookbinding and papermaking.