James David Hart was born in San Francisco in 1911, recieved his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in American Literature from Harvard. He later became an English professor at the University of California, Berkeley, held the post of Vice Chancellor of the Berkeley campus from 1957-1960, and was also the director of the Bancroft Library from 1969 to 1970. He was on the Board of Trustees of Mills College, as well as being a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Antiquarian Society, and the president of the Book Club of California from 1950 to 1960. Hart wrote and edited multiple books, including the Oxford Companion to American Literature. He also printed his own ephemera (mainly about the Western United States) in his home, the location of the Hart Press.
From the description of Hart Press Collection, 1932-1961. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 436480678
