Evelyn Hunter Nordhoff (b. ca. 1865 – d. November 2, 1898) was America's first female

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

Biography

Evelyn Hunter Nordhoff was the daughter of

Charles Nordhoff Charles Bernard Nordhoff (February 1, 1887 – April 10, 1947) was an American novelist and traveler, born in England. Nordhoff is perhaps best known for ''The Bounty Trilogy'', three historical novels he wrote with James Norman Hall: ''Mutiny o ...

and studied design with

May Morris Mary "May" Morris (25 March 1862 – 17 October 1938) was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' m ...

, the daughter of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

. She started bookbinding when she heard

T. J. Cobden-Sanderson Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson (; 2 December 1840 – 7 September 1922) was an English artist and bookbinder associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Life Sanderson was born in Alnwick, Northumberland. His father, James, was a District ...

lecture on bookbinding. She was determined to learn how to bind them and eventually learned the trade from Cobden-Sanderson at the

Doves Press The Doves Press was a private press based in Hammersmith, London. During nearly seventeen years of operation, the Doves Press produced notable examples of twentieth-century typography. A distinguishing feature of its books was a specially-devised ...

bindery in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1899, as well as Léon Gruel of the Rue Royale St. Honoré in Paris. She studied at the

circa 1895 onwards and came back to America to teach others the art. Her New York City studio, the Elephant Bindery, was located at 39 Washington Square West, where she gave lectures on bookbinding and exhibited her own work. When touring binderies in New York where women were employed, many did not have comprehensive education in the trade. So Nordhoff established the first school, Nordhoff Bindery, in the country to teach women the skills of bookbinding. She felt the work was well suited for one who had a home and family to help support her while in training. Women going into the occupation must love the work and be determined to learn with patience to execute fine and delicate work. Once basic skills were learned, a woman ought to be as proficient as her male colleagues. Nordhoff died unexpectedly on November 2, 1898, at the age of 34, after a brief illness. The work of this studio was continued by her students, M. Prat and Florence Foote, after her death, and is to be distinguished from the eventually renamed Evelyn Nordhoff Bindery at another location. Her ''New York Times'' obituary quotes her as stating "I want it distinctly understood that I am not a new woman. I belong to the old-fashioned class. Only I believe that if a woman wants to do a thing, she should be allowed the liberty of doing it.”

Notable works

Evelyn Nordhoff was the only woman bookbinder included in a

Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...

exhibition on American bookbindings that ran from April 10–24, 1897; eight of her bookbindings were exhibited. As a writer, she wrote a vivid description about the life and work habits at the Doves Press and Bindery for The Chap-Book. Some works on paper by Nordhoff are held at the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...

Students

* Florence Foote * May Rosina Prat and Minnie Prat, Primrose Bindery

Family

She was the sister of Walter Nordhoff (1855-1937), author of ''The Journey of the Flame'', penned under the name "Antonio de Fierro Blanco".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordhoff, Evelyn Hunter 1860s births 1898 deaths Bookbinders American printmakers American women printmakers 19th-century American women artists