The Tramp Printer 1934 Ben Hur Lampman SIGNED ~ freelance typesetters ~ printshop ~ short story ~ illustrated by Ralph Lee ~ Oregon

Title: The Tramp Printer: Sometime Journeyman of The Little Home-Town Papers in Days that Come No More

Author: Ben Hur Lampman
Illustrator: Ralph Lee

Description: Inscribed by Lampman on ffep. Limited edition of 500 copies (this copy not numbered). Boards in black cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Boards lightly rubbed. Printed on fine L'Aiglon paper. Internally clean. Three full-page duotone illustrations by Ralph Lee, editorial artist for The Oregonian. 58, [1] pages.

Lampman's whimsical story portraying the life of the tramp printer, those freelance typesetters, often found in country printshops, prior to the days before typesetting machines and automatic presses. The story's authenticity is drawn from Lampman's own experiences having known and worked with tramp printers of the west in the days of his own apprenticeship.

Ben Hur Lampman (1886-1954) was a second generation newspaper man, following in his father's footsteps. He held most management positions in the business including founding several papers. His range with the written word extended from poetry (he was Oregon's Poet Laureate, 1951-1954), short stories, and essays, to reporter and newspaper editor. He won the O. Henry Award for short story in 1943.

Inscribed by Lampman to Leonard Wiley (1904-1987), botanist, author of two books on plants of the Pacific Northwest, biographer of Frederic Homer Balch, and Lampman's close personal friend.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good+
Jacket Condition: None

Publisher: Published by the Metropolitan Press, With the Craftsman Syndicate Cooperating
Place: Portland, Oregon
Year: 1934

Keywords: Ralph Lee, printers, fiction, Leonard Wiley,