Ward Ritchie

Harry "Ward" Ritchie
BornJune 15, 1905
Los Angeles, California, United States
DiedJanuary 24, 1996
Laguna Beach, California, United States
Occupation(s)Printer, book designer, book collector, writer

Harry "Ward" Ritchie (Los Angeles, California June 15, 1905 – Laguna Beach, California January 24, 1996) was an American printer, book designer, book collector and writer of around 100 books.[1] He was part of the "Golden Age" of fine printing that took place during the 1920s and 1930s in Southern California.[2] Ritchie was also part of the Artists of the Arroyo Seco community.

Ritchie grew up in South Pasadena and attended the Marengo Avenue School, South Pasadena High School, and graduated in 1928 from Occidental College in Northeast Los Angeles.[1] After a brief stint in law school at USC, Ritchie turned his attention to printing, his true passion. He enrolled at Frank Wiggins Trade School (now Los Angeles Trade–Technical College).[3] In 1930, Ritchie apprenticed in Paris with the renowned artist and printer François-Louis Schmied.[4]

Returning to South Pasadena, Ritchie co-founded, along with fellow printer Grant Dahlstrom and bookseller Jacob "Jake" Zeitlin, the Rounce & Coffin Club.[5] This club was created as a less formal alternative to the Zamorano Club, where other bibliophiles gathered in Los Angeles, and to which he was later welcomed in 1934.[6][7] The following year, he established the Ward Ritchie Press, through which he published thousands of books, over 750 designed by himself; his output included works by poets Robinson Jeffers, Carl Sandburg, Archibald MacLeish, Carlyle MacIntyre, librarian Lawrence Clark Powell, novelist Alexandre Dumas, and many others.[1]

In 1987 he gave the Englehard Lecture on Fine Printing: The Los Angeles Tradition at the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.[8]

He was a member of the Book Club of California.

In 1983, Ritchie became romantically involved with film actress Gloria Stuart, who was inspired by him to design her own hand-printed books under the imprint Imprenta Glorias. Ritchie maintained a close relationship with Stuart until his death.[9]

Ritchie died of pancreatic cancer in Laguna Beach, California on January 24, 1996.[10]

  1. ^ a b c Oliver, Myrna (January 27, 1996). "Ward Ritchie; Master Printer, Bibliophile". Obituary. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  2. ^ Lehmann, Sarah (July 2006). "The Ward Ritchie Collection". Online Archive of California.
  3. ^ Reuven, Ben (18 January 1976). "WEST VIEW: Ward Ritchie: His Imprimatur Is on Fine Printing". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "Ward Ritchie Collection". www.oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
  5. ^ Finding Aid for the Rounce & Coffin Club papers created by the Clark Memorial Library. Accessed 25 February 2012
  6. ^ Zeitlin, Jacob (1972). Small Renaissance, Southern California Style. Los Angeles: Bibliographical Society of America. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Ward Ritchie Press". History of Graphic Design. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ Ritchie, Ward, and Center for the Book. 1987. Fine Printing: The Los Angeles Tradition. Washington: Library of Congress,
  9. ^ Harmetz, Aljean; Robert Berkvist (September 27, 2010). "Gloria Stuart, an Actress Rediscovered Late, Dies at 100". New York Times. p. B19. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  10. ^ Letson, Lester (3 May 2011). "Harry Ward "Ward" Ritchie". findagrave.com.