# Ward Ritchie > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ward_Ritchie > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ward_Ritchie.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Ritchie > Source revision: 1352417914 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American printer and author (1905–1996)}} {{Infobox person | name = Harry "Ward" Ritchie | image = Ward Ritchie, 1924.jpg | caption = Ritchie as high school senior, 1924 | birth_date = June 15, 1905 | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, United States | death_date = January 24, 1996 | death_place = Laguna Beach, California, United States | occupation = Printer, book designer, book collector, writer | partner = [Gloria Stuart](/source/Gloria_Stuart) (1983–1996) }} '''Harry''' "'''Ward'''" '''Ritchie''' ([Los Angeles, California](/source/Los_Angeles%2C_California) June 15, 1905{{spnd}}[Laguna Beach, California](/source/Laguna_Beach%2C_California) January 24, 1996) was an American printer, book designer, book collector and writer of around 100 books. He was part of the "Golden Age" of fine printing that took place during the 1920s and 1930s in [Southern California](/source/Southern_California).{{cite web|last=Lehmann|first=Sarah|date=July 2006|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt8z09r1nd/entire_text/|title=The Ward Ritchie Collection|publisher=[Online Archive of California](/source/Online_Archive_of_California)}} Ritchie was also part of the [Artists of the Arroyo Seco](/source/Artists_of_the_Arroyo_Seco_(Los_Angeles)) community. == Early life and career == Ritchie grew up in South Pasadena and attended the Marengo Avenue School, [South Pasadena High School](/source/South_Pasadena_High_School), and graduated in 1928 from [Occidental College](/source/Occidental_College) in Northeast Los Angeles.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-01-27-mn-29263-story.html|title=Ward Ritchie; Master Printer, Bibliophile|last=Oliver|first=Myrna|date=January 27, 1996|work=Los Angeles Times|department=Obituary|access-date=13 November 2012}} 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](/source/Frank_Wiggins_Trade_School) (now [Los Angeles Trade–Technical College](/source/Los_Angeles_Trade%E2%80%93Technical_College)).{{cite news|last1=Reuven|first1=Ben|title=WEST VIEW: Ward Ritchie: His Imprimatur Is on Fine Printing|work=Los Angeles Times|date=18 January 1976}} In 1930, Ritchie apprenticed in Paris with the renowned artist and printer [François-Louis Schmied](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Louis_Schmied).{{Cite web|title = Ward Ritchie Collection|url = http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt8z09r1nd/entire_text/|website = www.oac.cdlib.org|access-date = 2015-09-26}} == Career == Returning to South Pasadena, Ritchie co-founded, along with fellow printer Grant Dahlstrom and bookseller [Jacob "Jake" Zeitlin](/source/Jacob_Zeitlin), the Rounce & Coffin Club.[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt5f59s0mn/entire_text/ Finding Aid for the Rounce & Coffin Club papers] created by the Clark Memorial Library. Accessed 25 February 2012 This club was created as a less formal alternative to the [Zamorano Club](/source/Agust%C3%ADn_V._Zamorano), where other bibliophiles gathered in Los Angeles, and to which he was later welcomed in 1934.{{Cite book|title = Small Renaissance, Southern California Style|last = Zeitlin|first = Jacob|publisher = Bibliographical Society of America|year = 1972|location = Los Angeles|pages = 10}}{{cite web|url=http://historygraphicdesign.com/the-age-of-information/the-new-york-school/1069-ward-ritchie-press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209071944/http://www.historygraphicdesign.com/the-age-of-information/the-new-york-school/1069-ward-ritchie-press|url-status=usurped|archive-date=December 9, 2015|title=Ward Ritchie Press|publisher=History of Graphic Design|access-date=October 12, 2018}} The following year, he established the [Ward Ritchie Press](/source/Ward_Ritchie_Press), through which he published thousands of books, over 750 designed by himself; his output included works by poets [Robinson Jeffers](/source/Robinson_Jeffers), [Carl Sandburg](/source/Carl_Sandburg), [Archibald MacLeish](/source/Archibald_MacLeish), [Carlyle MacIntyre](/source/Carlyle_Ferren_MacIntyre), librarian [Lawrence Clark Powell](/source/Lawrence_Clark_Powell), novelist [Alexandre Dumas](/source/Alexandre_Dumas), and many others. In 1987 he gave the Englehard Lecture on ''Fine Printing: The Los Angeles Tradition'' at the [Center for the Book](/source/Center_for_the_Book) at the [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress).Ritchie, Ward, and Center for the Book. 1987. ''Fine Printing: The Los Angeles Tradition.'' Washington: Library of Congress, He was a member of the [Book Club of California](/source/Book_Club_of_California). == Personal life and death == In 1983, Ritchie became romantically involved with film actress [Gloria Stuart](/source/Gloria_Stuart), who was inspired by him to design her own hand-printed books under the [imprint](/source/Imprint_(trade_name)) Imprenta Glorias. Ritchie maintained a close relationship with Stuart until his death.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/movies/28stuart.html|title=Gloria Stuart, an Actress Rediscovered Late, Dies at 100|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean|author2=Robert Berkvist |date=September 27, 2010|work=New York Times|page=B19|access-date=13 November 2012}} Ritchie died of pancreatic cancer in [Laguna Beach, California](/source/Laguna_Beach%2C_California) on January 24, 1996.{{cite web|last=Letson|first=Lester|date=3 May 2011|title=Harry Ward "Ward" Ritchie|website=[findagrave.com](/source/findagrave.com)|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69309220/harry-ward-ritchie}} == External links == * [https://digital-collections.csun.edu/digital/collection/achievement/id/10/rec/11 Interview with Ward Ritchie] in 1976 at [California State University, Northridge](/source/California_State_University%2C_Northridge) (by Norman Tanis) ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Harry Ward}} Category:1905 births Category:1996 deaths Category:American printers Category:American book publishers (people) Category:Writers from Los Angeles Category:20th-century American publishers (people) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ward Ritchie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Ritchie) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Ritchie?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.