Richard-Gabriel Rummonds private press collection , 1949-2003

This collection contains material documenting the career of Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, including imprints of his own and others' works as well as book arts and technical materials. The material within is roughly organized into sections consisting of: imprints from Rummonds' own presses, Plain Wrapper Press and Ex Ophidia; unpublished, original samples, and ephemera prints, some of which served as prospectus for published monographs, mainly printed by other private presses; extensive material documenting the processes, art, and professional components of printing and hand presses; material from John DePol, a noted New York printmaker and wood engraver; and material from Rummonds' teaching career.

Rummonds himself organized and cataloged much of this material prior to its transfer to the University of Oregon. He defined imprints from Plain Wrapper Press and Ex Ophidia books as his own personal collection, with a separate collection containing imprints from other private press printers. He described much of the latter as "ephemera," defined as "printed or written items which originally served some specific purpose and were not expected to be retained or preserved," according to the Ephemera Society. Accordingly, much of the material in this category consists of such items as programs and invitations, as well as samples of poems or other literary works used for test or prospectus purposes.

Rummonds defined his technical and reference library as books and material used in Verona and Cottondale during his printing career, as well as material he used in Los Angeles and Seattle while working on his book Printing on the Iron Handpress. The related book arts material includes paper specimens and ink and typesetting samples.

Material related to John DePol, collected by Rummonds, documents DePol's career as a printer, and was organized separately from the rest of Rummonds' collection.

Other material includes photographs and posters as well as some educational and lecture material that Rummonds used in his teaching career, including examples of student work.