Dear Mr. Hunter : The Letters of Vojtech Preissig to Dard Hunter, 1920-1925 [Paperback]

Richard Kegler (Editor), Timothy Conroy (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

In 1920 Vojtech Preissig contacted Dard Hunter to enquire about having a custom, handmade paper produced for a book project. This initial contact led to a lengthy correspondence and friendship which demonstrated a shared passion for all aspects of the book arts.

The name Dard Hunter has become synonymous with hand-made paper as an artform. Hunter spent his life researching almost-lost techniques and writing about his discoveries. His expertise was not limited to paper, however, but encompassed the entire scope of bookmaking, type design, type cutting, casting, printing. Vojtech Preissig was a Czech artist with strikingly similar aspirations and sensibilities to those of Dard Hunter. Although his work is less widely known, Preissig was prolific and dedicated to the book arts to a point of self-sacrifice.

Dear Mr. Hunter consists solely of Preissig’s letters to Dard Hunter. The ultimate fate of Dard Hunter’s letters in reply is unknown. But

Preissig’s side of the correspondence offers many insights in its matter-of-fact unveiling of the process of artistic development.

This book includes illustrations of Preissig’s work, an introduction by Timothy Conroy, and a foreword by Richard Kegler. A standard edition of 1000 copies will be produced for private distribution. A deluxe edition of 50 copies will be hand bound by Richard Kegler in quarter leather with silk-screened paper covered boards and will include paper by Dard Hunter, III, Dard Hunter’s grandson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 65 pages
• Publisher: P22 INC. (October 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0963108212
• ISBN-13: 978-0963108210
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,260,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book-graphic arts pioneer martyred by the Nazis, September 29, 2008

By 

Bubba (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Mr. Hunter : The Letters of Vojtech Preissig to Dard Hunter, 1920-1925 (Paperback)

Some might find the topic of this book (letters between two artists who lived nearly a century ago) a bit dry, a specialist item meant mainly for "over-the-top" book arts afficionados. And unfortunately the editors only had access to one side of the correspondence. The "missing" letters were sent by Dard Hunter, who was the pre-eminent 20th century expert on the history of papermaking and who made several books for which he: 1)wrote the text; 2)designed the typeface; 3)cut the matrices for the typeface; 4)cast and set the metal type used to print the book; 5)made, by hand, the paper for the book; 6)printed the book; 7)and I believe, may have made his own ink, although I don't think that he *bound* the books himself!--so, even just the responses to his letters have an intrinsic interest.
The letters that we do have, those from Vojtech Preissig to Hunter, are of interest for several reasons: Preissig, older than Hunter, was also an important figure in art and graphic design. He had a long career in his native Czechoslovakia and then Paris as an engraver, book illustrator, and participant of the Art Noveau artistic circle. In middle age, Preissig came to the U.S.; influenced many promising young artists as an instructor at the Wentworth Institute of art; and is credited with inventing the medium of linoleum-block engraving, an important illustration and printing technique still in wide use today.
When the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, rather than stay safe in the U.S., Preissig went back to his home country to work in the Resistance, and was later killed in a Nazi concentration camp.
So, check out the book: sure, it has great illustrations and moderately interesting letters, but its true value lies in its illumination of the lives of two amazing 20th century artists and men whom we all should know more about.