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Book Arts and Fine Press at the Clark Library

Information about collections at the Clark Library and how to find additional resources at UCLA and beyond.

Welcome!

The Clark Library acquires limited-edition monographs, printed in relief or intaglio, focused on high-quality production and careful attention to hand-work. This major area of the Clark Library’s collection includes examples of fine printing in the broader area of book arts, with an emphasis on American fine presses — particularly California printers — and works representative of the Third Stream, including selected contemporary book artists from across the country and around the world. Works of these presses are supplemented and contextualized with reference books and the personal libraries of printers and publishers. Researchers will also find printers’ proofs, prospectuses, ephemera, and archives that provide a broad perspective of the arts of the book.

The Clark Library's collection of fine press and artists' books, prints, and ephemera, along with related archival collections, provides research opportunities for scholars and visitors seeking information on the history and future of the arts of the book. This guide attempts to assist those seeking these materials.

 

 

Finding Collections at the Clark Library

Fine press and artists' books in this collection can be searched and located through UC Library Search, WorldCat, and in certain circumstances, the Online Archive of California.

The Clark Library uses an in-house numbering scheme for the call number of these monographs. They are organized alphabetically by the name of the press/publisher and then numbered within that name. The standard preface for these collections is "Press coll." -- for example, "Press coll. Grabhorn F001" or "Press coll. Schapers 013." The letter F indicates an oversized item; the letters FF represent extra-oversized items (longer than 46 cm). 

The Clark Library also collects prints, periodicals, and ephemera by and about these collections. These materials are shelved in various places dictated by their size, shape, and quantity. Depending on their location and housing, the call number scheme varies.

Search Tips:

To find printed books, broadsides, maps, periodicals, bound manuscripts, and other discrete items from these collection, consult UC Library Search. To limit by collection, click on “Advanced Search” in the top right-hand corner and type “Press coll.” in Holding Call Number. Once you have search results, you can limit to the Clark Library by selecting it from the “UCLA Locations” facet on the left-hand side.

Alternatively, by selecting Browse from the top bar of UC Library Search homepage and selecting "Other Call number" from the drop-down menu, you can browse through these collections by entering the term "Press coll." You will see a pre-sorted list of titles by call number. Certain single-sheet or large items are housed in flat files and boxes. These can be browsed as above, but by searching "Clark artwork box" after selecting "Other Call number." The results will not be limited to fine press materials.

For archival collections by and about fine press printers and publishers or book artists, please consult the Online Archive of California (OAC). For guidance on searching and locating material, please see Archival Collections at the Clark Library research guide.

 

 

Clark Library Collections

The Arts & Crafts movement influenced decorative and applied arts, fine art, and book production at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. Originating in England, and spreading to Europe and America, the era is closely associated with William Morris (1834-1896) and his Kelmscott Press. Focusing on carefully designed and hand-crafted work, the movement was seen as an alternative to mass-produced and cheaply made products. The Kelmscott Press published Romantic and medieval literature (and original writings in those styles) in limited editions, using original typefaces on handmade paper and bound in paper and parchment. Richly illustrated with wood engravings and elaborately printed borders, these books were sought after for their aesthetic and production principles. Early followers of Morris continued the tradition of handmade, limited editions as the basis of book production while creating works of their own designs.

Recognizing the importance and influence of the English Arts and Crafts presses, Clark, Jr. collected the entire output of both the Kelmscott and Doves Presses, as well as other presses from the printing revival during the turn of the last century, such as Cuala and Dun Emer, Nonesuch, and Rampant Lions. The Library’s holdings for English sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter, and printer Eric Gill (1882–1940) are the most comprehensive in the world; and others in Gill’s circle, especially Robert Gibbings and the Golden Cockerel Press, are also well represented.

How to Search for these Materials:

Individual titles by and about these writers, artists, printers, presses, and corresponding topics can be found in UC Library Search. By starting with Advanced Search and initially limiting the scope to "UCLA Library Catalog (excluding articles)," the search can be refined to authors and subjects.

Suggested subject headings:

"Arts and crafts movement"

"Kelmscott Press" [etc.]

"Private presses--Kelmscott Press [etc.]"

 

For archival collections, consult the Online Archive of California (OAC) and select the finding aid from the alphabetical list of holdings.

Currently available Digital Collections:

The Eric Gill Artwork collection is fully digitized and available through the UCLA Digital Library. 

For additional information and further reading, please see the Bibliography in this guide.

We define fine printing as including limited-edition monographs, printed in relief and intaglio, focused on high-quality production and a careful attention to handwork first found in the English Arts and Crafts tradition. Collections at the Clark Library are international, but with strong holdings from California publishers. Because of William Andrews Clark, Jr.’s patronage of San Francisco-based printer John Henry Nash (1871–1947) and San Francisco-based bookseller and later Clark librarian Robert Ernest Cowan (1862-1942), the Library collected early and deeply during the golden age of California fine printing in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Publishers working during the San Francisco Renaissance (1950s) such as Lewis and Dorothy Allen (Allen Press), Grant Dahlstrom (Castle Press), William Everson (Lime Kiln Press), Jane Grabhorn's Colt Press and her husband and brother-in-law's Grabhorn Press, Richard Hoffman, Lawton Kennedy, Henry Evans (Peregrine Press),  Adrian Wilison, and Andrew Hoyem (Arion Press) are represented, along with the artists and illustrators they regularly collaborated with, such as Mallette Dean and Oscar Lewis. Mr. Clark was a lifetime member of the Book Club of California and purchased the books published by its members. This continued for many decades, and club publications continue to be acquired on a selective basis.

Southern California printers and publishers are a major area of focus in these collections. The books, prints, and archive of wood engraver Paul Landacre (1893-1963) are held at the Clark Library, along with the archive, private library, and titles produced by Ward Ritchie (1905-1996). William Cheney (1907-2002), Vance Gerry (1929-2005), and Patrick Reagh's works and archive are also at the Clark Library. Other printers, presses, and associated collections such as the San Encino Abbey, Pall Bohne, Alvin Lustig, Marion Kronfeld, Wallace and Corry Nethery, the Rounce & Coffin Club, and the Zamorano Club are housed in the Clark Library along with some college presses, such as Archetype Press (of the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena) and Scripps College Press.

When Ward Ritchie began his career as a printer and publisher, he spent a year in Paris, apprenticed to the artist and designer Francois-Louis Schmied. Ritchie collected Schmied's work and gave it to the Clark Library in a bequest. 

The names mentioned above are not exhaustive.

How to Search for these Materials:

Individual titles by and about these writers, artists, printers, presses, and corresponding topics can be found in UC Library Search. By starting with Advanced Search and initally limiting the scope to "UCLA Library Catalog (excluding articles)," the search can be refined to authors and subjects.

 

Suggested subject headings:

"Printing--[Country or state]--[City]--History." For example, "Printing--California--Los Angeles--History"

"Fine books--[Country or state]." For example, "Fine books--Japan"

"Private press books"

 

For archival collections, consult the Online Archive of California (OAC) and select the finding aid from the alphabetical list of holdings.

For additional information and resources, please see the Bibliography

The Clark Library collects primary source material, reference works and ephemera that further the study and research of the arts of the book: typography, papermaking, printing craft, bookbinding, calligraphy and other associated arts. These sources help situate much of the fine press and artists' books within their several contexts. 

Beginning with the first known manual of Western printing (Joseph Moxon's Mechanick Exercises, or, The Doctrine of Handy-works of 1683) through late editions of press manuals (Paul Moxon's Vandercook Presses: Maintenance, History and Resources 3rd edition, 2019), the Clark Library has strong holdings in works on printing, publishers, and publishing, including their histories and biographies. Type specimens ranging from the 1766 edition of Fournier's Manuel Typographique to multiple editions of ATF specimen books are also available. We have full, or nearly full, runs of The Matrix, Fine Print, Parenthesis, Printing History, and other journals. 

We collect selective examples of objects that can be shown during classes or used for individual study. These include movable type, linotype, lithography stones, composing sticks, type cases, table-top printing presses, decorative paper samples, and other related materials. Please contact the library directly if you are interested in consulting these materials.

How to Search for these Materials:

Individual titles by and about these writers, artists, printers, presses, and corresponding topics can be found in UC Library Search. By starting with Advanced Search and initally limiting the scope to "UCLA Library Catalog (excluding articles)," the search can be refined to authors and subjects.

Suggested subject headings:

"Printing--[State or country]--[City]--History." For example, "Printing--California--Los Angeles--History"

"Type and type-founding--[State or country]--Specimens." For example, "Type and type-founding--England--Specimens"

 

For archival collections, consult the Online Archive of California (OAC) and select the finding aid from the alphabetical list of holdings.

The Third Stream, while still nascent as a definition for a category of fine press books, has been used to describe an “... as-yet-unnamed conceptual art, a so-called movement (actually a medium, or third stream) which made one of its most vital contributions by validating the book as a legitimate medium for visual art” (Lucy Lippard, “The Artists’ Book Goes Public.”  Art in America January/February 1977: 40-41). The use of the term “Third Stream” was purportedly first used in reference to books created by the printer, “the person who actually makes the book,” by Sandra Kirshenbaum in 1969 (Kirshenbaum, S., ed. Five Fine Printers: Jack Stauffacher, Adrian Wilson, Richard Bigus, Andrew Hoyem, William Everson : an exhibition, February 22-April 10, 1979, University of California, Davis. Davis, California: Library Associates, 1979: [7]).

Book artists particularly representative of the Third Stream include Russell Maret (New York City), Veronika Schäpers (Karlsruhe, Germany), Richard Wagener (Petaluma, California), and Peter Koch (Berkeley, California), among others. These works combine original ideas, meticulous craft skills, and the book form as an expression of their art. The Clark Library has the complete works of Veronika Schäpers, and extensive collections from Russell Maret, Richard Wagener, and Peter Koch, including correspondence and ephemera. Other book artists and presses represented in the library include Ninja Press (Sherman Oaks, California), Salvage Press (Dublin, Ireland), Didier Mutel (France), Barbarian Press (Vancouver, Canada), etc. 

The Clark Library does not, as a rule, collect experimental artists’ books, altered books, artists’ multiples, and zines as these genres are collected at other UCLA libraries, primarily the Arts Library, but also Library Special Collections. Of the few artists' books that the Clark Library does collect--based on topic or affinity with our other holdings--can be found works by Mike Taylor (Q d'etat, 2021); Kyle Goen's Black Panther Party Stamp Book (2022); Around the Corner by Ximena Pérez Grobet (Nowhereman Press, 2020); Clifton Meador's Phlogistan (2020); Sonia Farmer's A True & Exact History (2018); and in works by Jan and Jarmilla Sobota, Veronika Schäpers, and the Windowpane Press.

How to Search for these Materials:

"Artists' books--[State or country]--[City]--[year]." For example, "Artists' books--California--Los Angeles--2024"

"Artists' books--Specimens"

"Altered books"

 

Additional Resources

The Clark Library is just one UCLA Library that collects fine press and artists' books. Additional resources can be found in Library Special Collections (in YRL) and the Arts Library (in the Public Policy building) on campus. 

For information on holdings in the Arts Library, see the following research guides:

For information on holdings in Library Special Collections, see the following research guides:

For related materials at the Clark Library, see the following research guides:

This list of exhibition catalogs, journal articles, and monographs on artists' books, often conflated with fine press books, is extensive. Below is a selected list of titles to put the Clark Library collection in context. Most of these titles are available at UCLA.

Biographies and bibliographies on individual printers, artists, and publishers can be searched by choosing the name of the individual or publisher under "Subject" in Advanced Search.

 

Selected bibliography:

Bright, Betty, et al. No Longer Innocent : Book Art in America : 1960-1980  / Betty Bright. First edition, Granary Books, 2005.

Campos, Alexander. Multiple, Limited, Unique : Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Center for Book Arts. The Center for Book Arts, 2011.

Capelleveen, Paul van, et al. The Ideal Book : Private Presses in the Netherlands, 1910-2010 : Paul van Capelleveen, Marieke van Delft, Sjoerd van Faassen, Lisa Kuitert, Ellen van Oers, Reinder Storm, Kees Thomassen and Clemens de Wolf. Vantilt Publishers, 2010.

Castleman, Riva, et al. A Century of Artists Books  / Riva Castleman. The Museum of Modern Art, 1994.

Cave, Roderick. The Private Press  / Roderick Cave. Second edition, Revised and Enlarged., R.R. Bowker Company, 1983.

Clark, William Andrews, et al. The Library of William Andrews Clark, Jr. The Kelmscott and Doves Presses : In Two Parts. Part I: Kelmscott Press. Part II: The Doves Press  / Collated and Compiled by Robert Ernest Cowan ; Assisted by Cora Edgerton Sanders and Harrison Post ; with an Introduction by Alfred W. Pollard. Printed by John Henry Nash, 1921.

Codex Foundation, issuing body, et al. Book Art Object  / Editor, David Jury. Edited by David Jury, Codex Foundation, 2008.

Courtney, Cathy. Speaking of Book Art : Interviews with British and American Book Artists  / by Cathy Courtney. Anderson-Lovelace, 1999.

Drucker, Johanna, et al. The Century of Artists’ Books  / Johanna Drucker. Granary Books, 1995.

Drucker, Johanna and Brad Freeman, et al. The JAB Anthology: Selections from the Journal of Artists’ Books, 1994-2020. 1st ed., University of Iowa Press, 2023.

Ede, Charles. The Art of the Book; Some Record of Work Carried out in Europe and the U.S.A., 1939-1950. Studio Publications, 1951.

Granary Books, publisher, et al. Books Do Furnish a Room, You Can Tell a Book by Its Cover : Books, Pamphlets, Magazines and Multiples from the Collection of Tony Zwicker (Art, Artists’ Books, Catalogues, Documentation & Concrete Poetry). Granary Books, 2001.

Hart, James D. (James David), and Andrew Hoyem. Fine Printing : The San Francisco Tradition  / by James D. Hart. Library of Congress, 1985.

Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University., et al. The Art of the Book in California : Five Contemporary Presses  / Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University ; Curated by Peter Rutledge Koch, Roberto G. Trujillo, and Alison Roth ; Essays by Robert Bringhurst and Peter Koch. Stanford University Libraries, 2011.

Hubert, Renée Riese, et al. The Cutting Edge of Reading : Artists’ Books  / Renée Riese Hubert & Judd D. Hubert. Granary Books, 1999.

Klima, Stefan, et al. Artists Books : A Critical Survey of the Literature  / Stefan Klima. Granary Books, 1998.

Lauf, Cornelia, et al. Artist/Author : Contemporary Artists’ Books : Softcover. American Federation of Arts, 1998.

Liberty, Megan N., ed. Craft & Conceptual Art: Reshaping the Legacy of Artists' Books. Center for Book Arts, 2023

Lyons, Joan, ed. Artists’ Books : A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook  / Edited by Joan Lyons. Edited by Joan Lyons, Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1985.

Ripley-Duggan, Edward. Book Arts Collections : A Representative Selection  / Edward Ripley-Duggan, Editor. Haworth Press, 1988.

Ritchie, Ward, et al. Fine Printing : The Los Angeles Tradition  / Ward Ritchie. Library of Congress, 1987.

Wasserman, Krystyna, et al. The Book as Art : Artists’ Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. 2nd ed., Princeton Architectural Press, 2011.

Southern California classes & workshops:

California Rare Book School: Based at UCLA, CalRBS is "dedicated to providing the requisite knowledge and skills for professionals working in all aspects of the rare book community, and for students interested in entering the field. CalRBS offers week-long courses covering a broad range of topics." Classes usually take place during the summer. Scholarships are available. https://www.calrbs.org

International Printing Museum: Located in Carson, California, the museum runs the Book Arts Institute, "...a dedicated space for full-size workshops focusing on printing techniques as well as the book and paper arts. Using our collections of antique printing machinery, vintage type, and book arts equipment, our aim is to fully develop the Book Arts Institute as the premier public teaching space for book arts in Southern California." The museum also has an annual series of hands-on events for groups of all ages. https://www.printmuseum.org/

Local colleges with hands-on book and printing courses:

Scripps College in Claremont California

Otis College of Art and Design in West Los Angeles

ArtCenter in Pasadena, California

Note: There are many places in the United States that offer workshops, classes, certificates, and degrees in bookmaking and the history of the book. Ask your librarian for additional information.

Specialized booksellers:
Browsing the shelves -- whether in person or online, in a library or at a bookstore -- is always a great way to discover new things:

This list is far from exhaustive. Many booksellers that specialize in antiquarian books also sell fine press and artists books. For additional sources, see the American Antiquarian Booksellers Association or the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Both sites allow limiting searches by specialty to locate dealers selling these materials. Many practicing printers and book artists also sell their books directly. 

Organizations:

This list is not exhaustive. Many of these organizations offer virtual participation.

Southern California

Northern California

Points east

National