Description
James D. Hart was a literary scholar and former chairman of the English Department at UC Berkeley. Born in 1911 in San Francisco, he received a B.A. from Stanford University, followed by a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He had authored ""The Oxford Companion to American Literature"" and ""A Companion to California."" At UC Berkeley, Hart served as chairman of the English Department and the university’s vice chancellor from 1957 until 1960. In 1969, he was appointed director of The Bancroft Library. Hart was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Antiquarian Society. In this interview, he discusses printing presses, the Book Club of California, and the Grabhorn Press. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting literature, publishing, and printing in the Bay Area.