Clyde Browne established the Abbey Press and was a printer in the Los Angeles area for approximately forty years until his death in 1942. Browne was born in 1872 in Old Hickory, Ohio. After moving around the Midwest and California, he worked at many newspapers in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1902 or 1903, Browne moved to Los Angeles, where he worked at the Los Angeles Examiner for four years. In 1909, he set up his own print shop, and by 1910 had established the firm of Browne and Cartwright with Alexander Cartwright. Soon after, he helped Occidental College and the University of Southern California start their own school newspapers.

Beginning in 1915, Browne started building what would eventually become the Abbey San Encino, where he did most of his printing. The Abbey was finished in July of 1924. Browne printed his own work (including poems, books, and ephemera) as well as for others, including Occidental College. Various printers rented studio space from Browne, including Ward Ritchie, House Olson, and Scott Haselton. Lawrence Clark Powell also rented one of Browne's studios before becoming the University Librarian at UCLA and director of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Browne was active with the Sea Scouts (a division of the Boy Scouts of America). He later was the chairman of the Democratic Party Committee in the 54th district, and ran for the State Assembly. After Clyde Browne's death on July 1, 1942, his son closed the press and sold most of the equipment. As of the 1980s, the Abbey was owned by Browne's grandson, Severin.