Finding Aid for the Rounce & Coffin Club Collection 1932-1991
Press coll. Archives Rounce & Coffin
Processed and described by Jamie Henricks
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
©2009
2520 Cimarron Street
Los Angeles 90018
clark@humnet.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Title: Rounce & Coffin Club Collection
Creator:
Rounce & Coffin Club
Identifier/Call Number: Press coll. Archives Rounce & Coffin
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear Feet
3 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1932-1991
Abstract: This collection contains papers and printed ephemera created for members of the Rounce & Coffin Club. It includes items related
to administration and activities of the club, materials associated with the annual Western Books Exhibition, event invitations,
and printed keepsake booklets.
Physical Location: Housed off-site at SRLF. Please notify Clark Library staff at least 2 weeks in advance to request items from this collection.
Language of Material:
English
.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts or printed items 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Rounce & Coffin Club Collection, Press Coll. Archives Rounce, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library,
University of California, Los Angeles.
Acquisition Information
Portions of this collection originated in accession MS.1988.002, as a gift of Josephine Ver Brugge Zeitlin. Other portions
of the collection were gifts of Lawrence Clark Powell or the Rounce & Coffin Club, or were collected over time by the William
Andrews Clark Memorial Library.
Processing History
Processed by Jamie Henricks, August 2009
Historical note
The Rounce & Coffin Club began in late 1931 at the house of Jake (Jacob) Zeitlin in Echo Park (Los Angeles), California. Grant
Dahlstrom was named President and Ward Ritchie was designated secretary. The members met frequently at Zeitlin's house and
later at hotels in Pasadena. Beginning in 1938, the members held an annual Western Books Exhibition which displayed and judged
fine press books made in and about the Western United States.
Early and noted members included Saul Marks, Paul Landacre, Gregg Anderson, Robert Schad, Roland Baughman, H. Richard Archer,
and others. Lawrence Clark Powell features often in club ephemera as well.
Scope and Content
This collection contains papers and printed ephemera created for members of the Rounce & Coffin Club. It includes items related
to administration and activities of the club (including members lists, bylaws, photographs, correspondence, and other items);
announcements and judging materials for their annual Western Books Exhibition; printed invitations for dinners, lectures,
and meetings; Western Books Exhibition catalogs; and printed keepsake booklets.
Six printed booklets which were not keepsakes of the Rounce & Coffin Club were removed from box 3 and moved to a folder in
the Fine Press Ephemera Collection (Press Coll. Ephemera). The folder is titled "Items from the Rounce & Coffin Club Collection".
Arrangement
The collection was kept in its original order, except where certain items (such as the keepsake booklets) were arranged chronologically
by date. Items are arranged thematically, and then chronologically when possible.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Administration, Publicity, and Western Book Exhibition... stuff., 1938-1989
- Series 2. Invitations to Dinners, Lectures, and Meetings, 1931-1991
- Series 3. Printed Booklets and Catalogs
Related Material
Items relating to the Rounce & Coffin Club and its members may be found in other California fine press collections held at
the Clark Library. Many of these collections have finding aids available via the Online Archive of California, but this list
is in no way exhaustive:
Ward Ritchie Papers , the
Patrick Reagh Papers , the
Battledore Press Collection , the
William Murray Cheney Papers , the
Richard J. Hoffman Collection , the
Vance Gerry and the Weather Bird Press Archive , the
Plantin Press Papers , the
Paul Landacre Archive , the
H. Richard Archer Papers , and the
Zamorano Club Collection .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Fine books -- California -- 20th century
Clubs -- California -- 20th century
Ephemera -- California -- 20th century
Zeitlin, Jake, 1902-1987
Dahlstrom, Grant Edward
Ritchie, Ward, 1905-1996
Archer, H. Richard, (Horace Richard)
Cheney, William Murray
Administration, Publicity, and Western Book Exhibition Series 1.
1938-1989
Arrangement note
This series is arranged thematically, with general Rounce & Coffin material appearing before Western Books Exhibition
material.
box 1, Folder 1
Administrative Ephemera
1941-1958, 1966, 1977
Scope and Contents note
Includes multiple member lists; membership cards for H. Richard Archer, Lawrence Clark Powell, and Robert O. Schad; by-laws;
voting forms; and other notices.
box 1, Folder 2
Annual Book Auction Announcements
1939-1993
box 1, Folder 3
Correspondence
1954-1988
Scope and Contents note
Includes seven letters to and from members of the Rounce & Coffin Club.
box 1, Folder 4
Exhibition Announcements
1946-1965
Scope and Contents note
Includes announcements for miscellaneous exhibitions, most about printing.
box 1, Folder 5
Photographs
1955
Scope and Contents note
Includes photographs sent from Grant Dahlstrom to H. Richard Archer of people at one or two Rounce & Coffin Club events. Some
photos have the word "Eeney-chay" written on the back -- Cheney (Will) in Pig Latin.
box 1, Folder 6
Newspaper Clippings and Periodical Articles
1946-1960
box 1, Folder 7
Printed Keepsakes
1946-1961, 1972, 1976, 1981
Scope and Contents note
Includes printed ephemera exchanged as keepsakes for members of the Rounce & Coffin Club, usually at meetings.
box 1, Folder 8
Stationery
Scope and Contents note
Includes blank forms and various pieces of Rounce & Coffin Club stationery as well as stationery for amusement, including
a piece for "The Flying Hiatus" ("published at intervals", "all issues out of series and uncalled-for").
box 1, Folder 9
Western Books Exhibition announcements and itineraries
1938-1983
Scope and Contents note
Includes announcements and locations for Western Book Exhibitions.
box 1, Folder 10
Western Books Exhibition call for books
1938-1988
Scope and Contents note
Includes requests for submissions of books to be judged and possibly exhibited in the Western Book Exhibition.
box 1, Folder 11
Western Books Exhibition display cards and merit certificates
1938-1967
box 1, Folder 12
Western Books Exhibition judging ephemera
1969-1971, 1987, 1989
Scope and Contents note
Includes a list of books to be judged (1987 and 1989), requests for club members to be judges, and a large photograph of five
individuals judging books at a table.
General note
The back of the photograph reads "L to R = Jake Zeitlin, Wyllis Kerr (Pomona), + Carl Wheat, Judging R & C Books" and "Carey
Bliss + Phil Brown in background - at Huntington Library".
box 1, Folder 13
Western Books Exhibitions -- retrospective exhibition announcements
1948, 1954, 1959
Scope and Contents note
Includes announcements for two Rounce & Coffin retrospective exhibitions (10 and 20 years) and an exhibit of United States
books to be sent to Mexico with a list of books.
box 3
Western Books Exhibition catalogs
1938-1994
Scope and Contents note
Includes the following years: 1938, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1968, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981-1984, 1986, 1993, and
1994.
box 4
Western Books Exhibition catalogs
1938-1993
Scope and Contents
Includes 1938-1939, 1941-1942, 1947, 1950-1957, 1959-1963, 1965-1972, 1977, 1992-1993
box 3
Printed Keepsake Booklets for members of the Rounce & Coffin Club
1938-1959, 1990
Scope and Contents note
The Coyote / Mark Twain. Printed by E.G. and D.W. Davies, The Ward Ritchie Press: Los Angeles, 1938.
Forgotten Characters of Old San Francisco (1850-1870) / Robert Ernest Cowan. The Ward Ritchie Press: Los Angeles, 1938.
A Pepysian Pastorale / Samuel Pepys. Richard J. Hoffman: Los Angeles, 1945.
International Book Illustration, 1935-1945 / sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts at the Pierpont Morgan Library,
New York. [ca. 1946.]
Elizabeth's Merlin / Anthony Hillyer [pseudonym for Thomas Perry Stricker]. Gordon Holmquist: Los Angeles, 1947.
Faith in Literature. Phi Beta Kappa Address, Colgate University / Morris Bishop. 1947. [Gift to the Rounce & Coffin Club.]
The Private Press of Thomas Perry Stricker. Fred Anthoensen: Los Angeles, 1949.
Addresses at a Meeting of the Zamorano Club, May 6, 1950. Edward Laurence Doheny Memorial Library. The Ward Ritchie Press:
Los Angeles, 1950.
Nidus: A Dramatic Poem in Three Voices. / Dow Parkes. The Ward Ritchie Press: Los Angeles, 1950.
Twenty disorderly years / Jake Zeitlin. The Ampersand Press: Pasadena, California, 1951.
Will Bradley: His Work: An Exhibition. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. 1951.
A Graphic Arts Center in the Making / Tri-Arts Press: New York, [ca. 1952].
Librarian-on-Leave / Lawrence Clark Powell, edited by Everett Moore. Los Angeles City College: Los Angeles, 1952.
The Universality of California History. The Edith M. Coulter Lecture, presented October 24, 1952, Pasadena, California /
[lecture by] Rodman W. Paul. 1952.
Great Books in Great Editions. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California / Roland Baughman and Robert O. Schad. Anderson,
Ritchie, and Simon: Los Angeles, 1954.
Northwest Coast of America & California: 1832. Letters From Fort Ross, Monterey, San Pedro, and Santa Barbara, by an Intelligent
Bostonian. The Plantin Press: Los Angeles, 1959.
In Memory of Andy Horn / Timothy Steele. Tyrus G. Harmsen (Tiger Press): [Los Angeles], 1990.
Invitations to Dinners, Lectures, and Meetings Series 2.
1931-1991
Scope and Contents note
This series contains invitations to dinners, lectures, and meetings organized by and for the members of the Rounce & Coffin
Club.
Arrangement note
This series is arranged chronologically by date of event.
box 2, Folder 1-8
Invitations to Rounce & Coffin Club dinners, lectures, and meetings
[1932]-1991
General note
Also includes a folder of undated invitations.