The Arif Press was founded in Berkeley, California in 1971. The Arif Press records consist of four series, including project files, correspondence, general press files, and personal.

Wesley B. Tanner (b. 1947) began his career as a letterpress printer after wandering into a printing class in junior high school in 1960. Three years later he entered the trade at 16 years old after landing a job at Press Baza, one of the early California Beat poetry presses. After graduating high school, Tanner moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from his native Los Angeles to study letterpress printing at Laney College in Oakland. He was to soon seek the guidance of Mrs. Leslie S. Clarke and the staff of the Rare Book Room at UC Berkeley, and also from a long friendship with James D. Hart, Director of The Bancroft Library. But Tanner's real tutelage came from his mentors, John C. Tarr and Roger Levenson, and became part of a long and distinguished line of autodidactic scholar-printers based in California. Tanner eventually mentored others, including Alistair Johnston, Gerald Reddan, and Linnea Lundquest.

13 linear feet (10 cartons and 1 oversize box)

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