Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

in the UK dealing with the study of the

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

and its

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. The Society promotes and encourages study and research in historical, analytical, descriptive and textual bibliography through its lectures, fellowships and bursaries, and publishing its quarterly journal, ''The Library''. 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 The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

, at

Burlington House Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private English Baroque and then Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earl of Burlington, Earls of Burlington. It was significantly expanded in the mid-19th cent ...

. 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 ''bibliograph ...

** the

history of printing History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

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, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

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 obvi ...

* to hold

meetings A meeting is when two or more 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 group decision-making. Definiti ...

at which papers are read and discussed * to print and publish a journal (''The Library'') and books concerned with bibliography * to maintain a bibliographical

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

* 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 in ...

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 in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

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, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

. 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 organ ...

is housed at the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

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.) 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, 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 ...

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 no longer accessible.

Gold medal

The Society occasionally awards a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

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."

References

External links