Jean Gunner

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Versal Alphabet

Elegantly drawn and decorated versal alphabet in gouache paint. 38 x 28 centimeters. Created n.d. Lent by Betsy Palmer Eldridge.

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Jean Gunner was born in 1947. Before coming to the USA in 1969, Jean Gunner trained in England at the Epson & Ewell School of Arts & Crafts, the Guilford School of Art, the India Office Conservation Dept., and with Deborah Evetts. Upon first arrival she worked for and studied restoration under Carolyn Horton. After briefly working for the New York Public Library, she became the bookbinder/conservator for the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie-Mellon University remaining there for fourteen years. Following her retirement in 1986 she teamed up with Ellen Owings in establishing a studio offering bookbinding, book and paper restoration, and classes. She taught classes in all aspects of bookbinding, and was largely responsible for planning and setting up the seminar at the Hunt Institute in November 1979 that resulted in the book The Tradition of Fine Bookbinding in the Twentieth Century.