Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior
learned society
A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an discipline (academia), academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and s ...
dealing with the study of the
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
and its
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
in the United Kingdom.
Largely owing to the efforts of
Walter Arthur Copinger
Walter Arthur Copinger (14 April 1847 – 13 March 1910) was an English professor of law, antiquary and bibliographer.
Early life and education
Copinger was born on 14 April 1847 at Clapham, the second son of Charles Louis George Emanuel Copin ...
, who was supported by
Richard Copley Christie
Richard Copley Christie (22 July 1830 – 9 January 1901) was an English lawyer, university teacher, philanthropist and bibliophile.
He was born at Lenton in Nottinghamshire, the son of a mill owner. He was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford ...
, the Bibliographical Society was founded in London in 1892; Copinger was the Society's first president, and held the post for four years. His own work in the field, however, lacked accuracy.
The Society holds a monthly lecture between October and May, usually on the third Tuesday of the month at the
Society of Antiquaries of London
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...
.
The first fifty years of the Bibliographical Society were documented in the book ''The Bibliographical Society, 1892–1942: Studies in Retrospect''. ''The Book Encompassed'', a volume of essays marking the Society's centenary was published in 1992.
Objectives
The objectives of the Society are:
* to promote and encourage study and research in the fields of:
** historical, analytical, descriptive and textual
bibliography
Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
** the
history of printing
The history of printing starts as early as 3000 BCE, when the proto-Elamite and Sumerian civilizations used cylinder seals to certify documents written in clay tablets . Other early forms include block seals, hammered coinage, pottery imprints, a ...
,
publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
,
bookselling
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
,
bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...
and
collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvio ...
* to hold
meetings
A meeting is when two or more Homo sapiens, people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of Decision-making, ...
at which papers are read and discussed
* to print and publish a
journal
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
(''The Library'') and books concerned with bibliography
* to maintain a bibliographical
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
* from time to time to award a
medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
for services to bibliography
* to support bibliographical research by awarding
grants and bursaries
Library and archives
The Society's library was housed at
Stationers' Hall
The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was formed in ...
in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
but moved to
Senate House in January 2007. In 2017 it moved again to the Albert Sloman Library at the
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...
.
The Society's
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
is housed at the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
and may be used by scholars and members of the Society.
Publications
The Society has published a journal since 1893, originally entitled ''Transactions of the Bibliographical Society''. In 1920 it took over publication of ''The Library'' (issued since 1889) and adopted that as the main title of the ''Transactions''. (''The Library'' was founded in 1889 by
John Young Walker MacAlister
Sir John Young Walker MacAlister (10 May 1856 – 1 December 1925) was a Scottish journalist, editor, librarian, and promoter of medical postgraduate education. He was the Secretary of the Royal Society of Medicine from 1901 to 1925 and one of the ...
.) The different series of the ''Transactions'' and ''The Library'' are:
*''Transactions of the Bibliographical Society'', vol. 1–15 (1893–1919)
*''The Library'', vol. 1–10 (1889–1898)
*''The Library'', Second/New series, vol. 1–10 (1900–1910)
*''The Library'', Third series, vol. 1–10 (1910–1919)
*''The Library'', Fourth series, vol. 1–26 (1920–1946)
*''The Library'', Fifth series, vol. 1–33 (1946–1978)
*''The Library'', Sixth series, vol. 1–21 (1979–1999)
*''The Library'', Seventh series, vol. 1– (2000– )
''The Library'' (; ) is a quarterly journal and is issued free to members who also receive a copy of all books published by the Society.
In 1937,
Harry Carter,
Ellic Howe
Ellic Paul Howe (20 September 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a British author who wrote extensively on occultism and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn as well as on typography and military history. During World War II he worked for Britain's ...
,
Alfred F. Johnson,
Stanley Morison
Stanley Arthur Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces o ...
and
Graham Pollard
Henry Graham Pollard (known as Graham Pollard) (7 March 1903 – 15 November 1976) was a British bookseller and bibliographer.
Early life
Pollard was the son of the historian Albert Pollard and was born in Putney, London on 7 March 1903. ...
started to produce a list of all known pre-1800 type specimens. The list was published in ''The Library'' in 1942. However, because of the war, many libraries at the European continent were not accessible anymore.
Gold medal
The Society occasionally awards a
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
medal for "distinguished services to bibliography to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of the subject and the furtherance of the Society's aims."
See also
*
Bibliographical Society of America The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is the oldest learned society in North America dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts as physical objects. Established in 1904, the society promotes bibliographical research and issues bibliograp ...
* Sir
Frank Francis
Sir Frank Chalton Francis (5 October 1901 – 15 September 1988) was an English academic librarian and curator. Almost all his working life was at the British Museum, first as an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Printed Books, and later as ...
and
Julian Roberts
Richard Julian Roberts FSA (18 May 1930 – 20 October 2010) was a British librarian, bibliographer, and scholar.[Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) formed in 1991 in the United States on the initiative of scholars Jonathan Rose, Simon Eliot, and others. Its members study the history of books and the "composition, mediati ...](_blank)
*
Books in the United Kingdom
History
In 1477 William Caxton in Westminster printed '' The Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophres,'' considered "the first dated book printed in England."
The history of the book in the United Kingdom has been studied from a variety of cult ...
References
External links
Bibliographical Society official website* (HathiTrust)
{{Authority control
Organizations established in 1892
Clubs and societies in London
Learned societies of the United Kingdom
Bibliography
History of books
University of London
Bodleian Library
1892 establishments in England