Busyhaus Paper On Paper Archive

Collection

Identifier: 2016-0121

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Busyhaus Paper on Paper Archive documents the artist Robert Hauser's lifelong interest in making, using and collecting paper. Representing over five decades of collecting, the Busyhaus Paper on Paper Archive comprises over thirty linear feet of specimens and research materials collected from 1963, when Mr. Hauser was a student at the School of Fine Arts Boston, to 2013. The archive consists of correspondence, paper specimens, and unique keepsakes collected by Robert Hauser from paper artists, decorative papermakers, and fine printers, along with mill watermarks and the work of scholars in America, Asia and Europe. The archive contains an international library on paper, papermaking, and paper moulds, both European and Japanese.

The archive documents the history of the individuals and mills that contributed to the twentieth-century American Renaissance in hand papermaking and paper-based art. Researchers interested in the 1960s revival of hand papermaking, the book arts, decorative papermaking, letterpress printing, and fine press book production in the United States will find ample source materials in the archive.

In addition, the archive documents Mr. Hauser's interests, scholarship, and trips abroad, the formation of Busyhaus Associates, his personal and professional relationships with artists, book binders, and educators, and his activities and experiences conducting the Busyhaus Papermaking Workshop.

Dates

1925-1999

Conditions Governing Access

Papermaking moulds included in the Busyhaus Paper on Paper Archive are accessible for purposes of research, exhibition, and publication and are not to be used for papermaking.

Historical Note

Artist, educator and museum conservator Robert Hauser developed and presented the Busyhaus Papermaking Workshop, an educational program designed to advance the practice and scholarship of traditional hand papermaking among artists, art conservators, bookbinders, curators, printers and printmakers, between 1973 and 1980. Duyring that period, Robert Hauser conducted over one hundred and fifty workshops and lectures for art organizations, museums, and universities, exposing thousands of students to the experience, practice, and technology of papermaking.

"My education as an artist and training in museum conservation involved me with the making and preservation of artworks. These experiences developed my special interests in paper history, technology, and the revival of hand papermaking, including the book arts, decorative papermaking, and letterpress printing," according to Mr. Hauser. "My relationships and experience with those who make, use, and preserve paper has enabled me to form an archive."

From 1968 to 1969 business activities were conducted using the name Diving Gull and after 1969, the name Busyhaus was used. Busyhaus can be defined as a "Busy House" with Bauhaus persuasions in design and education. The Busyhaus windmill logo was adapted from the family's heraldic design and was registered with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office on May 18, 1976 (from Hauser, "Papermakers and Papermaking in America," Guild of Book Workers Journal, Vol 27, Fall 1989).

Extent

30 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement of Series

The Busyhaus Paper on Paper Archive is organized by Robert Hauser into three subject series, and within each series, further organized into subseries with folders arranged alphabetically within each, retaining Mr. Hauser's folder descriptions. Series include Series A: International Collection of Artifacts, Keepsakes, Letters, Publications; Series B Historic and Modern: Traditional Papermaking Artifacts; and Series C Historic and Modern: Framed Paper on Paper Keepsake.

Books that comprise the International Papermaking and Graphic Arts Library, a component of the Busyhaus Paper on Paper Archive, are arranged by size and located throughout the Archive. Individual items, and the containers in which they reside, are listed by title in the Guide to the Archive.

Artifacts and keepsakes are housed in solander boxes containing papermaking moulds, framed keepsakes, decorative papers, watermarked specimens, and wood engravings.

Related Materials

Correspondence between Robert Hauser and Michael McCurdy can be found in the Penmaen/Busyhaus Collection: The Correspondence of Michael McCurdy and Robert Hauser (MSS 2000-0126) also housed in Archives and Special Collections.