Book Arts and Fine Press at the Clark Library

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