The Roxburghe Club is a

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 ...

and publishing society based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Origins

The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous

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 ...

of the

Duke of Roxburghe The Duke of Roxburghe () is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles ''Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford'', ''Earl of Kelso'' and ''Viscount Broxmouth''. John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe became the first holder ...

(who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 days in May–July 1812. The auction was eagerly followed by bibliophiles, the high point being the sale on 17 June 1812 of the first dated edition of

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so we ...

's ''

Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...

'', printed by

Christophorus Valdarfer Christophorus Valdarfer was an early printer, active in Venice and Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper ...

at Venice in 1471, and sold to the

Marquis of Blandford Duke of Marlborough (pronounced ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Queen Anne in 1702 for John Churchill, 1st Earl of Marlborough (1650–1722), the noted military leader. In historical texts, unqualified use of the ti ...

for £2,260, the highest price ever given for a book at that time. (The Marquis already possessed a copy, but one that lacked 5 pages.) That evening, a group of eighteen collectors met at the St Albans Tavern, St Albans Street (later renamed Waterloo Place) for a dinner presided over by the 2nd Earl Spencer, and this is regarded as the origin of the Roxburghe Club. A toast drunk on that occasion has been repeated at every annual anniversary dinner since to the "immortal memory of John Duke of Roxburghe, of Christopher Valdarfer, printer of the ''Boccaccio'' of 1471, of

Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs w ...

, Fust and Schoeffer, the inventors of the art of printing, of

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...

, Father of the British press nd others; andthe prosperity of the Roxburghe Club and the Cause of

Bibliomania Bibliomania can be a symptom of obsessive–compulsive disorder which involves the collecting or even hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged. Bibliomania is not to be confused with bibliophilia, which is the ...

all over the world". It was decided to make the dinner an annual event: further members were admitted the following year. The club was formed by

Thomas Frognall Dibdin Thomas Frognall Dibdin (177618 November 1847) was an English bibliographer, born in Calcutta to Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of the composer Charles Dibdin. Dibdin was orphaned at a young age. His father died in 1778 while returning to En ...

, author of the book '' Bibliomania; or Book-Madness'' (1809), who served as its first secretary; and the club was formalised under Earl Spencer's presidency.

Membership

The Club has had a total of 350 members from its foundation to 2017. The circle has always been an exclusive one, with just one " black ball" (negative vote) being enough to exclude an applicant. Since 1839 the number of members at any one time has been limited to forty. A photograph exists of the membership in 1892, including the Prime Minister

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

and anthropologist

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

, as well as

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

poet

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that ri ...

Alfred Henry Huth Alfred Henry Huth (1850–1910) was an English bibliophile. From a banking family, he followed his father Henry Huth's interest in book collecting, and helped found the Bibliographical Society of London. Life Born in London on 14 January 1850, ...

, and Simon Watson Taylor. James Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, was then President. The first female member was Mary, Viscountess Eccles, elected in 1985. In 2011, the Australian comedian

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film prod ...

was elected a member. The President since 1998 has been

Max Wyndham, 2nd Baron Egremont John Max Henry Scawen Wyndham, 7th Baron Leconfield, 2nd Baron Egremont FRSL DL (born 21 April 1948), generally known as Max Egremont, is a British biographer and novelist. Egremont is the eldest son of John Edward Reginald Wyndham, 6th Baron ...

Publications

The Club rapidly became more than a mere social institution. Each member was (and remains) expected to sponsor the publication of a rare or curious volume. Other volumes are published by the Club collectively. Initially the volumes were editions of early

blackletter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...

printed texts (the first, in 1814, was the

Earl of Surrey Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, William de Warenne, a close Companions of William the Conqueror, companion of William the Con ...

's translation of parts of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'', originally printed in 1557); but from as early as 1819 they began to include texts taken from

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

originals. The standards of scholarship are high, and the quality of printing,

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...

reproduction, and binding is lavish. Copies of each volume (in a fine binding) are presented to all members, and a limited number of extra copies (generally in a less lavish binding) may be made available for sale to non-members. From 1839, the total number of copies for each publication, including members' copies, was limited to 100. Recently, the limit was raised to 342 copies: 42 for the club, 300 for the public. The Roxburghe Club is generally recognised as the first "book club" (that is,

text publication society A text publication society is a learned society which publishes (either as its sole function, or as a principal function) scholarly editions of old works of historical or literary interest, or archival documents. In addition to full texts, a text p ...

), and was a model for many book societies that appeared later in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In 2000 the publisher

Susan Shaw Susan Shaw (29 August 192927 November 1978) was an English actress. Biography Shaw was born Patsy Sloots in West Norwood, London. She had wanted to become a dress designer and was working as a typist at the Ministry for Information when she di ...

completed the work that she had been given by the ''Roxburghe Club'' to create a facsimile copy of "The Great Book of Thomas Trevilian" in two volumes. The book was given to the club's members. A copy of Shaw's facsimile book in 2020 was on sale for £2,200.

Some notable members

A full list of the "Membership since 1812" can be found on the club website. *

(founder member, 1812) *

Joseph Haslewood Joseph Haslewood (5 November 1769 – 21 September 1833) was an English writer and antiquary. He was a founder of the Roxburghe Club. Life Haslewood was born in London, the son of Richard Haslewood and his wife Mary Dewsberry.Francis Haslewood ...

(founder member, 1812) * Edward Vernon Utterson (founder member, 1812) *

Richard Heber Richard Heber (5 January 1773 – 4 October 1833) was an English book-collector. Biography He was born in Westminster, as the eldest son of Reginald Heber, who succeeded his eldest brother as lord of the manors of Marton in Yorkshire and Hodne ...

(founder member, 1812) *

George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland, KG (8 August 178627 February 1861), styled Viscount Trentham until 1803, Earl Gower between 1803 and 1833 and Marquess of Stafford in 1833, was a British Whig MP and peer fro ...

(founder member, 1812) *

George Hibbert George Hibbert (13 January 1757 – 8 October 1837) was an English merchant, politician, slave-owner, ship-owner, amateur botanist and book collector. With Robert Milligan, he was also one of the principals of the West India Dock Company which ...

(1757-1837) (elected 1816) * Archdeacon Francis Wrangham (elected 1822) *

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

(elected 1822) *

Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis, KG (22 March 1785 – 17 January 1848), styled Viscount Clive between 1804 and 1839, was a British peer and Tory politician. He was the grandson of Clive of India. Early life Edward was born on 22 March 1 ...

(elected 1828) * Evelyn Philip Shirley (elected 1839) *

William Edward Buckley William Edward Buckley (1817 – 18 March 1892) was a Church of England clergyman, an academic who taught both classical languages and Old English, and also a journalist. He was Rawlinsonian Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford fro ...

(vice-president, 1884) * Simon Watson Taylor (elected 1858) * Henry Huth (d.1878) (elected 1866) * Henry Bradshaw (elected 1866) *

John Duke Coleridge John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (3 December 1820 – 14 June 1894) was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for En ...

(elected 1875) *

(d.1910, son of Henry) (elected 1883) *

(elected 1884) *

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...

(elected 1884) *

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death o ...

(elected 1884) *

(elected 1891) *

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

(elected 1909) *

William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first Residency (medicine), residency program for spec ...

(elected 1914) *

Thomas James Wise Thomas James Wise (7 October 1859 – 13 May 1937) was a bibliophile and thief who collected the Ashley Library, now housed by the British Library, and later became known for the literary forgeries he printed and sold. Collecting career Wise b ...

, forger and suspected thief (elected 1927) * Sir Owen Morshead (elected 1931) *Sir Charles Travis Clay (elected 1941) * Sir Walter Oakeshott (elected 1949) * Harry Lawrence Bradfer-Lawrence (elected 1954) *

Christopher Selby Dobson Christopher Selby Austin Dobson (25 August 1916 – 22 December 2005) was an English librarian who was the librarian of the House of Lords Library from 1956 to 1977. Early life and education Dobson was born in 1916 in Isleworth to Alban Tabor ...

(elected 1964) * Sir Robin Mackworth-Young (elected 1965) * Frederick B. Adams Jr. (elected 1966) *

David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles David McAdam Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles (18 September 1904 – 24 February 1999), was an English Conservative politician. Education and early career Eccles was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he obtained a sec ...

(elected 1966) *

Nicolas Barker Nicolas John Barker (born 1932) is a British historian of printing and books. He was Head of Conservation at the British Library from 1976 to 1992 and is a former editor of ''The Book Collector''. A bibliography of his work was published to m ...

— Editor of ''The Book Collector'' (elected 1970) * Sir Anthony R Wagner —

Garter Principal King of Arms The Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ...

(elected 1972) * Mary, Viscountess Eccles (elected 1985) *Sir

John Paul Getty Jr. Sir Paul Getty (; born Eugene Paul Getty; 7 September 1932 – 17 April 2003), known widely as John Paul Getty Jr., was a British philanthropist and book collector. He was the third of five sons born to J. Paul Getty (1892–1976), one of the ...

(elected 1988) *

Anthony Quinton Anthony Meredith Quinton, Baron Quinton, FBA (25 March 192519 June 2010) was a British political and moral philosopher, metaphysician, and materialist philosopher of mind. He served as President of Trinity College, Oxford from 1978 to 1987; a ...

(elected 1990) *

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, Baron Gascoyne-Cecil, (born 30 September 1946), is a British Conservative politician. From 1979 to 1987 he represented South Dorset in the House of Commons, and in the 1990s he wa ...

(elected 1993) *

Christopher de Hamel Christopher Francis Rivers de Hamel (born 20 November 1950) is a British academic librarian and expert on mediaeval manuscripts. He is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and former Fellow Librarian of the Parker Library. His book ...

(elected 2001) *

Jane, Lady Roberts Priscilla Jane Stephanie, Lady Roberts, ( Low; 4 September 1949 – 29 June 2021), known as simply Jane Roberts, was the Curator of the Print Room at Windsor Castle from 1975 and the Royal Librarian from 2002 until her retirement in July 2013. ...

(elected 2003) *

(elected 2011) *

Richard Ovenden Richard Ovenden (; born 25 March 1964) is a British librarian and author. He currently serves as Bodley's Librarian in the University of Oxford, having been appointed in 2014. Ovenden also serves as the Director of the Bodleian Library's Centre ...

(elected 2017) * Hannah Rothschild (elected 2017)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1812 establishments in the United Kingdom Bibliophiles British literature Clubs and societies in West Sussex Organizations established in 1812 Small press publishing companies Text publication societies

Origins

Membership

Publications

Some notable members

References

Further reading

External links