Richard F. Docter, freelance consultant to the Oral History Program, UCLA. B.A., UCSB; Ph.D., psychology, Stanford. Professor of psychology, California State University, Northridge; hobby printer and member of the Rounce and Coffin Club.
Cheney's West Los Angeles apartment.
Each of three midafternoon sessions lasted about two hours. Four hours of conversation were recorded.
Docter, Cheney, and Mrs. Cheney.
Docter writes: I have known Will Cheney as a fellow hobby printer since 1959, when I joined the Rounce and Coffin Club. I knew of his work through examples shown to me by Muir Dawson, who is also a hobby printer and a longtime friend of Cheney. I visited Cheney's shop when it was located near Jake Zeitlin's bookstore in West Hollywood, and I also called upon him many times when he had his shop at the Clark library, out in the carriage house. When Cheney moved his printing activities from the Clark Library to his small apartment, it was necessary for him to sell some of his type, his ten-by-fifteen Chandler and Price press, his paper cutter, and various type cabinets. I bought all of this from him and moved it to my garage/print shop in Northridge.
Will Cheney is an extremely shy and withdrawn person, who is ill at ease in social situations. I may have had an unusual advantage in conducting this interview, because I knew him moderately well and he seemed to enjoy talking with me over the years. I attempted to set a conversational tone for the interview sessions and to encourage Cheney to roam about wherever his thoughts might take him. From time to time I returned to a rough chronological outline just to help get as much coverage within the history as possible, but I tried not to force him to stick with my agenda.
I knew Cheney had been born in Los Angeles and that he had come from a prominent family, so I asked many questions that might throw a bit of light on what it was like to grow up here around the turn of the century.
This oral history surely contains what many would consider a great deal of trivial and irrelevant detail; Cheney would love to be remembered just that way, for he is not only a uniquely talented and highly regarded hobby printer but also a master of trivia and irrelevant detail.
William Cheney is best known for his miniature books and for his patience in hand-setting extensive text in 4-point type.
Editing was done by Deborah Young, assistant editor. Oral History Program. She checked the verbatim transcript of the interview against the original tape recordings and edited for punctuation, paragraphing, correct spelling, and verification of proper nouns. The final manuscript remains in the same order as the original taped material. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed.
Cheney reviewed the edited transcript and answered the editor's queries.
Edwin H. Carpenter, bibliographer and author of