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Register of the William Murray Cheney Papers, 1872-1983, bulk 1949-1983
Press coll. Archives Cheney
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Title: William Murray Cheney Papers ,
Date (inclusive): 1925-1983
Collection number: Press coll. Archives Cheney
Origination:
Cheney, William Murray, 1907-
Physical Description: 21 boxes 9 linear feet
Repository:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Los Angeles, CA 90018
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to
include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained.
[Identification of item], William Murray Cheney Papers, William
Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Source of Acquisition/Provenance
Purchase, 1949-1985, Dawson's Bookshop.
Gift, 1945-64 from Lawrence Clark Powell.
Gift, 1956 from Muir Dawson.
Gift, 1958 from William M. Cheney.
Gift, 1958 from Richard Zumwinkle.
Gift, 1966-67 from Grant Dahlstrom.
Gift, 1977 from William Tapia.
Gift, 1988 from Josephine Zeitlin.
Gift, 1988 from Glen Dawson.
When requesting items, please state box number, folder number, and title.
Printers
Correspondence
Ephemera
Miniature books
Broadsides
Wood blocks (printing blocks)
William Cheney was born in 1907 in Los Angeles. He worked as a shipping clerk for
Dawson's Bookshop from 1929 to 1932, and then went to work for Thomas Perry Stricker,
under whose tutelage he learned to print. Cheney's first printed book was
A Voyage to Trolland (1933). Cheney briefly owned his own press
which he operated until he went to work as an engineer for Douglas Aircraft from 1941 to
1946. From 1946 to 1947, Cheney worked for the
Artesia News.
In 1948 he worked briefly for Muir and Watts, and also for Saul and Lillian Marks'
Plantin Press before buying his own printing press and starting to print commercially.
From 1962 to 1974, Cheney printed materials for the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library and for Lawrence Clark Powell while working in the gatehouse on the Clark Library
grounds.
The collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series I. Catalogued miniature books (Box 1)
- Series II. Correspondence and ephemera from the collection of H. Richard Archer (Boxes 2-4)
- Series III. Correspondence and Cheney ephemera (Boxes 5-6, 10-12, 16)
- Series IV. Western Books ephemera (Box 7)
- Series V. UCLA ephemera (Box 8)
- Series VI. Ephemera (Box 9)
- Series VII. Other presses' ephemera and correspondence (Boxes 13-15)
- Series VIII. Grant Dahlstrom correspondence (Boxes 17-19)
- Series IX. Broadsides ephemera (Box 20)
- Series X. Gifts from Dick Zumwinkle's collection (Box 21)
- Series XI. Woodblocks for Five Italian Proverbs by Mel Fowler (Peregrine Press).
This collection consists of printed miniature books, correspondence, ephemera,
broadsides, and woodblocks related to William Murray Cheney and his activities as a
printer in Los Angeles. It also includes materials related to other Los Angeles area
printers, presses, and bibliophiles such as Grant Dahlstrom, H. Richard Archer, the Auk
Press, and the Hippogryph Press.