Item #28045 Los Compadres keepsake "Affectionately presented to WARD RITCHIE by Los Compadres at Jake Zeitlin's Red Barn on June 26, 1982" [ Dance of Death / A Bad Case of Jitters ]. Ward Ritchie, Jake Zeitlin, John Henry Nash.
Los Compadres keepsake "Affectionately presented to WARD RITCHIE by Los Compadres at Jake Zeitlin's Red Barn on June 26, 1982" [ Dance of Death / A Bad Case of Jitters ]
Los Compadres keepsake "Affectionately presented to WARD RITCHIE by Los Compadres at Jake Zeitlin's Red Barn on June 26, 1982" [ Dance of Death / A Bad Case of Jitters ]
DANCE OF DEATH - A Los Compadres Keepsake

Los Compadres keepsake "Affectionately presented to WARD RITCHIE by Los Compadres at Jake Zeitlin's Red Barn on June 26, 1982" [ Dance of Death / A Bad Case of Jitters ]

[ no place ]: Los Compadres 1982. First Edition. Unfolded sheet, 40 cm by 54.5 cm. Printed on thick paper stock in black and white ink. Minor edge spotting and a few marks. The right-hand portion of the sheet is bordered half-page illustrations of skeletons "Sales, Service, Costs, Charts" dancing on Gutenberg's body. Below is a related poem. On the left-hand portion of the sheet is a smaller 13.5 x 16 cm bordered note titled "A Bad Case of Jitters".

Presumably reprints John Henry Nash's 1934 "A Bad Case of Jitters" as a Los Compadres keepsake. The 1934 Nash edition is rare, with only 5 copies in OCLC (acc#17275806).

[NOTE: with limited covid access to library services we were unable to do a visual comparison against Nash's edition.]. Near Fine. none. [28045]


"On the evening of February 8, 1958, Hank Givens, publisher of the Santa Ana Independent, gathered a group together at his Tustin home to discuss books and book collecting. Originally calling themselves the Bibliophile Society of Orange County, the group was later renamed Los Compadres. The original members included Hank Givens, Dwight Hamilton, Pat Patterson, Horace Parker, Ed Rice, Bill Rasmussen, and Don Meadows. Although it was not until 1966 that Los Compadres would formally codify its existence through the creation of a Constitution, they adopted the motto, 'United by a love of books, art, history, and literature.'

It was not until the following year that Los Compadres began meeting monthly on Saturday mornings, and their meeting sites changed from private homes to public venues. First meeting at the Villa Marina in Newport Beach, they moved to the Saddleback Inn in Santa Ana in 1966 and then to Irvine’s Airporter Inn in 1972. Finally, Los Compadres settled in to a regular meeting schedule at the Sherman Library and Gardens, where the organization has gathered since 1976. Although founded as a men’s social organization, Los Compadres began holding an annual breakfast meeting in honor of their wives and sweethearts in 1969; today these special gatherings are held in February to coincide with Valentine’s Day. In 2008 the first female members were admitted." (Finding aid for Los Compadres archive at Sherman Library & Gardens)

Zeitlin and Ritchie knew each other through an alternative to the Zamora club which they founded: "The Rounce & Coffin Club began in late 1931 at the house of Jake (Jacob) Zeitlin in Echo Park (Los Angeles), California. Grant Dahlstrom was named President and Ward Ritchie was designated secretary. The members met frequently at Zeitlin's house and later at hotels in Pasadena. Beginning in 1938, the members held an annual Western Books Exhibition which displayed and judged fine press books made in and about the Western United States." (William Andrews Clark Memorial Library)

Both John Henry Nash and Ward Ritchie were fine printers. Jake Zeitlin was an American bookseller, publisher, collector, poet and intellectual in Los Angeles.

A nice addition to any bookish ephemera collection.

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