Laguna Verde Imprenta; 1975-1987

[Laguna Beach]: Lagune Verde Imprenta, 1988. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. One of fifty copies, quarto size, [72] pp., with errata slip, signed by Ward Ritche. Harry "Ward" Ritchie (1905-1996) founded The Ward Ritchie Press, a fixture in the Southern California literary landscape, in 1932. He was responsible for publishing thousands of books, including over 750 which were designed by Ward Ritchie himself. After retiring from printing as a career, what did he do but...start his own printing press, the Laguna Verde Press.

This "bibliography" of the Laguna Verde Press not only covers the twenty-six items published under this imprint, but also gives the history of the Press, including how he obtained his printing press and had it installed (he was warned that he'd "have to remove the house first" to get it back out).

Published when Ritche was 83, the entire edition was set and printed by hand on his 1835 Albion Press. Not only does this work cover the twenty-six items published (numbered "wr 1" through "wr 26) but the colophon numbers this bibliography as "wr 27" and the accompanying Errata slip as "wr 28". We cannot help but mention that the Errata slip is so much more than an Errata slip...on the verso is a small line drawing of a couple sitting in an old-fashioned, footed bathtub, with champagne bottles surrouding the tub on the floor, the couple pouring from a bottle and toasting each other with the drawing captioned: "Indulge Yourselves. / Savour your friends. / Make love and revel in books. / Eat, drink and be merry. / For when you are dead / there's nothing left to live for." Wise words, no matter one's age...

One of only fifty copies, scarce in the marketplace; as of this writing, we see no copies online; our search of OCLC locates twenty-two of the fifty copies with institutions.

___DESCRIPTION: Quarter bound in bright red leather over red patterned paper boards, gilt lettering on the leather at the front along the spine which is plain, fore- and bottom edges uncut, illustrated title page, two black-line drawings in the essay, each of the twenty-six published items with a description by Ritchie and a sample page, many with some type of illustration, many in colour, Errata slip loosely laid in at the colophon; quarto size (10 1/2" by 8"), unpaginated with thirty-four printed leaves (including the samples), one of fifty copies, unnumbered. Housed in the original slipcase covered with black paper.

___CONDITION: Volume fine, with clean boards, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, and as new. Errata slip also fine, clean and without wear; slipcase near fine, strong and sturdy, without splits or wear, with a few light, stray marks.

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