Returning to South Pasadena, Ritchie co-founded, along with fellow printer Grant Dahlstrom and bookseller Jacob "Jake" Zeitlin, the Rounce & Coffin Club. This club was created as a less formal alternative to the Zamorano Club, where other bibliophiles gathered in Los Angeles, and to which he was later welcomed in 1934. The following year, he established the Ward Ritchie Press, through which he published thousands of books, over 750 designed by himself; his output included works by poets Robinson Jeffers, Carl Sandburg, Archibald MacLeish, Carlyle MacIntyre, librarian Lawrence Clark Powell, novelist Alexandre Dumas, and many others.
In 1983, Ritchie became romantically involved with film actress Gloria Stuart, who was inspired by him to design her own hand-printed books under the imprint Imprenta Glorias. Ritchie maintained a close relationship with Stuart until his death.
