Fellowship Of American Bibliophilic Societies
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS) is an association of American book clubs whose members seek interaction with book collectors across the country and around the world. At The Rowfant Club's 100th anniversary celebration in 1992, local members and their guests from book clubs in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco discovered common interests of
bibliophilic Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...
book clubs. The new association's first meeting was November 5, 1993, in New York, at
The Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...
. In 1994, the group drew up articles of association outlining their goals to promote and develop common interests of the member societies. Founding member book clubs were (in chronologic order of the year of the club's founding): The
Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...
of New York City (1884);
The Club of Odd Volumes The Club of Odd Volumes is a private social club and society of bibliophiles founded in 1887, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. History The club was founded on January 29, 1887, with the following intention: The objects shall be to promote an in ...
, Boston (1886); The Rowfant Club, Cleveland (1892); The Philobiblon Club, Philadelphia (1893); The Caxton Club, Chicago (1895); The Book Club of California (1912); The Roxburghe Club, San Francisco (1927); and The Baxter Society, Portland, Maine (1984). The Club of Odd Volumes and The Rowfant Club are no longer member clubs.


Select member clubs

Member clubs include The Aldus Society, Columbus, Ohio; The Ampersand Club, Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Baltimore Bibliophiles, Baltimore, Maryland; The Baxter Society; The Book Club of California, San Francisco, California; The Caxton Club, Chicago, Illinois;
The Book Club of Detroit The Book Club of Detroit, is a private club and society of bibliophiles in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1957, The Book Club of Detroit, is a club for book collectors. About The Book Club of Detroit is club whose members are book co ...
, Detroit, Michigan; The Grolier Club, New York, New York; The Manuscript Society;
Movable Book Society The Movable Book Society (MBS) is a nonprofit organization which provides a forum for artists, book sellers, book producers, collectors, curators, and others to share enthusiasm and exchange information about pop-up and movable books. The Society h ...
; The Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society, Cleveland, Ohio; The Philobiblon Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Rowfant Club, Cleveland, Ohio; The Roxburghe Club of San Francisco; The Ticknor Society, Boston, Massachusetts; The Book Club of Washington, Seattle, Washington; and The
Zamorano Club The Zamorano Club is a bibliographic and manuscript collecting society in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest organization of its type in Southern California. It was founded on January 25, 1928. It was named after Agustín V. Zamorano who bro ...
, Los Angeles, California.


Select international affiliates

International affiliates include Aberystwyth Bibliographical Group, Aberystwyth, Wales; Nederlands Genootschap van Bibliofielen, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Associació de Bibliòfiles de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain;
National Union of Bibliophiles The National Union of Bibliophiles (NUB), full name Non-Commercial Partnership “The National Union of Bibliophiles” (russian: Некоммерческое партнерство “Национальный союз библиофилов”), ...
, Moscow, Russia; The Society of Bibliophiles in Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Les Amis Du Livre Contemporain, Paris, France; The Private Libraries Association, Pinner, Middlesex, England; Pirckheimer-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany.


Activities

The National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, founded in 2005 by ''Fine Books & Collections Magazine'', was led starting in 2010 by a partnership of the
Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) is an organization in the United States for dealers in rare and antiquarian books. The association is a member of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). History Fou ...
(ABAA), the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS), the Grolier Club, and the
Center for the Book The Center for the Book was founded in 1977 by Daniel J. Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, to promote literacy, libraries, and reading and an understanding of the history and heritage of American literature. The Center for the Book is mainly su ...
and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, with support by the
Jay I. Kislak Jay I. Kislak (June 6, 1922 – October 3, 2018) was an American businessman, philanthropist, bibliophile, and aviator. Early life and education Kislak was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 6, 1922. He earned his first real estate license in h ...
Foundation. The contest encourages young book collectors. Similar contests have been held at colleges and universities across the United States, such as the
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
A. E. Newton Award Book Collecting Contest dating from the 1930s. Students from all schools, regardless of whether their school has a similar contest, and regardless of whether they've won similar contests, are encouraged to participate. The awards ceremony is held at the Library of Congress.


See also

*
Book collecting Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someo ...
*
Books in the United States As of 2018, several firms in the United States rank among the world's biggest publishers of books in terms of revenue: Cengage Learning, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill Education, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, and Wiley. H ...
*
Miniature book A miniature book is a very small book. Standards for what may be termed a miniature rather than just a small book have changed through time. Today, most collectors consider a book to be miniature only if it is 3 inches or smaller in height, wid ...


References


External links


Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies
(FABS)
Book Talk: The Official Blog of the Newsletter of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies
{{Authority control Bibliophiles Book and manuscript collectors Book clubs Ephemera * * Organizations established in 1993