New Acquisition Spotlight: Roycroft Books from the Blacher Collection

MAACM is pleased to announce the acquisition of six rare, handmade, Roycroft books from the extraordinary collection of Richard Blacher. A devotee and scholar of the Arts & Crafts movement for over fifty years, Richard Blacher assembled one of the most significant collections in the country of important printed material from The Roycrofters. Many books in in this collection include a presentation box. These hand-carved wood relief masterpieces or custom leather containers protect the delicate work inside, and were produced exclusively on commission by Roycroft. Some of the most rare and important works from this collection will now be housed in the MAACM Library.

While known in later years for furniture and metalwork, Roycroft’s first endeavor was bookmaking and printing. When founder Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) established the Roycroft Press, the enterprise put the utmost skill and craftsmanship into each book produced, reflecting the passion and dedication applied to their craft. One such book, and new acquisition, Friendship by Henry David Thoreau, has a cover made of modeled leather, a handicraft leatherworking technique of the highest skill. Artisans like master bookbinder Louis Herman Kinder (1866–1938), the multitalented Roycroft artisan Dard Hunter (1883-1966) an expert on papermaking, artist Alexis Fournier (1865-1948), and accomplished illustrator W.W. Denslow (1856-1915), worked alongside Hubbard to influence book printing and binding processes at Roycroft.

The Last Ride, by Robert Browning in 1900, is a full leather-bound book, designed and executed by Kinder with gilding, classic vellum and silk. It was sold in a leather presentation box with hand-illumined title page and borders. The beautifully hand-illumined vellum was the first Roycroft book to be printed on this material which was sent from William Morris to Hubbard. This book is a stunning example of the craftsmanship present at the Roycroft press at the turn of the twentieth century.

Complete with hand-carved walnut presentation box, Citizens of Albert Lea, made in 1905 is a leather-bound book with other materials like suede, monotype, watercolor, and ink on paper. This book features three pages with monotypes of stylized landscapes and watercolors by Alex Fournier. The binding was designed and made by Kinder while the interior was designed, calligraphed and hand-illumined by Dard Hunter.