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Har-ma Press records LSC.2181
LSC.2181  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Restrictions on Access
  • Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
  • Preferred Citation
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • Biography/History
  • Scope and Content
  • Arrangement note

  • Title: Har-ma Press Records
    Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2181
    Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 0.2 linear feet (1 box)
    Date: 1979-1984
    Abstract: Correspondence between Muir Dawson, Harold Smith, and Roger Levenson, and other documents regarding the development, manufacture and sale of the Har-ma printing press.
    Language of Materials: English
    Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
    Creator: Har-Ma Press.

    Restrictions on Access

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

    Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

    Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Har-ma Press Records (Collection 2181). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 7816482 

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Purchase, 2013.

    Biography/History

    The Har-ma Press was invented in the late 1970s by Harold Smith, an engineer from Sacramento, California. The name of the press is derived from the first three letters of Harold Smith's first name and the last two letters of his wife, Alma's first name. Harold and Alma Smith worked closely as authors and printers.
    In 1978, the Har-ma caught the eye of Roger Levenson, printer and proprietor of Tamalpais Press, during a demonstration by Smith at a printer's fair. Levenson immediately ordered one for himself, and Smith subsequently consulted Levenson on design improvements as he built additional presses. Levenson also recommended the Har-ma to Muir Dawson, owner and operator of Dawson's Bookshop in Los Angeles. Dawson purchased a Har-ma press for the bookshop, and arranged the sale of several others, including one to UCLA. Smith built a total of 15 presses: a prototype numbered 0 and numbers 1-16, but no number 13. Harold Smith died in 1999.

    Scope and Content

    Materials documenting the development of the Har-ma printing press, invented by Harold Smith. Includes sales information, correspondence documenting bookseller Muir Dawson's relationship with Harold Smith during the years Smith built the presses, operating instructions, a list of the locations of each press, and two artists' books produced on a Har-ma press.

    Arrangement note

    Collection arranged by subject.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Dawson, Muir
    Levenson, Roger, 1914-1994
    Smith, Harold
    Hand presses
    Printing presses