Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Lazara Press fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the provenance of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
1 m of textual records and other materials
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Lazara Press is a small, progressive publishing house located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The publishing house was founded by its current owner, Penny Goldsmith, in 1982. They publish poetry, literature, broadsides, and chapbooks. They also publish the "Discussions" series which serves as a forum for provocative and challenging essays and speeches on current issues. Lazara Press is committed to publishing, keeping in print and distributing works that might not otherwise be available.
Custodial history
Transferred from Lazara Press to UBC Rare Books and Special Collections in 2012.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of the business records created and/or collected by Lazara Press and its founder Penny Goldsmith, predominately from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. The records are loosely divided into two main categories: administrative and publication records. The administrative records contain material documenting the different functions of Lazara Press, including promotional/distribution information, financial records, memberships information, and correspondence Lazara Press had with other printing presses and booksellers in Canada and in Europe. Other administrative records include materials pertaining to projects Goldsmith was involved in, either as a representative of Lazara Press or of her own initiative.
The publication records contain material relating to the publication process of the various broadsheets, chapbooks, volumes of poetry, plays, short stories, and essays printed by Lazara Press. These records include drafts and manuscripts, layouts and prototypes, as well as the published editions of many of these works. Other records include correspondence between Lazara Press and various authors, contracts, promotional information, reviews, and distribution lists.
The fonds is divided into eleven series: Promotion and distribution; Lazara Press business records; Literary associations and publishing groups; Literary festivals and book fairs; Publishers; Editing + consulting; Penny Goldsmith articles; Other projects; Lazara published books; Broadsides and chapbooks; and Discussion series. The last three series are further divided into subseries, typically by author name but occasionally by the title of a publication.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
The fonds was processed and arranged at two separate dates. When Goldsmith donated the fonds to Rare Books and Special Collections in 2012, she submitted an inventory list outlining the record groups contained within the fonds. An Assistant to the Archivist then arranged the fonds according to this list, using the label used to describe the records group as the titles of each series. The Assistant processed four of the nine boxes donated to RBSC from Goldsmith, but for reasons unknown, left before the project could be completed.
In 2015, a second Archival Assistant completed processing and arranging the fonds. As four of the boxes of material had already been processed and arranged, and there was no documentation providing context of why or how these records were arranged the way they were, the series from the original arrangement were retained. Only one further series, the Discussion Series, was added. As it became apparent from the inventory list and from the unprocessed boxes that Goldsmith further subdivided her publications by author name or by publication title, subseries were added to the following series: Lazara published books; Broadsides and chapbooks; and the Discussion series.
File names supplied by Goldsmith were retained. Where no file name was listed, one was provided based on the contents of the file. Some of the series titles were modified and changed for clarity purposes.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Some of the files contained in this fonds contain personal information and are thus restricted. To see these files, or for more information, please contact the Archivist.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
Further accruals are not expected.
Physical description
Includes 161 photographs + 3 contact sheets, 9 drawings, and 2 CD-ROMs
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
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Status
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
A draft of the finding aid for Lazara Press fonds was created in 2013.
Final copy of the finding aid was prepared by Katie Sloan, May 2015.