The Rounce & Coffin Club was a 20th-century fine press book and printing club that operated from 1931 to 2007. It was founded by four members, and at its peak had over fifty-five local members. The Club sponsored the Western Books Exhibition (a traveling exhibition of the best fine press printing from the Western United States) from 1938 to 2005. This archive includes records (event, meeting, membership, financial, publicity, and general) as well as printed ephemera, photographs, and correspondence.

The Rounce & Coffin Club, originally called the "Thistle Club," was founded in the fall of 1931 by Jake Zeitlin, Grant Dahlstrom, Gregg Anderson, and Ward Ritchie. A "rounce" and a "coffin" are two parts of a hand press. The first few meetings were held at Zeitlin's residence in Echo Park, and the club's members included printers, librarians, and booksellers. Well-known librarian, author, and bibliographer Lawrence Clark Powell joined the club in September 1933. He describes the club's mission in "Ten Years (Almost) of Rounce & Coffinism" (published in 1941 by the College Press at Los Angeles City College): "Our message? Our mission? To raise the standards of printing here in the West and to teach the layman--even the librarian--what we hold to be excellence in printing. And among ourselves to breed good fellowship."

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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 Clark Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA 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.

Collection is open for research.