Rounce and Coffin Club Collection 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

URL: http://www.clarklibrary.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.