The Hroswitha Club was a membership-based club of women bibliophiles and collectors based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, active from 1944 to 2004.

Founding

The Hroswitha Club was founded in 1944 by a group of women bibliophiles: Sarah Gildersleeve Fife (who convened the group),

Belle da Costa Greene Belle da Costa Greene (November 26, 1879 – May 10, 1950) was an American librarian who managed and developed the personal library of J. P. Morgan. After Morgan died in 1913, Greene continued as librarian for his son, Jack Morgan, and in 1 ...

, Anne Lyon Haight, Ruth S. Granniss, Eleanor Cross Marquand,

Henrietta C. Bartlett Henrietta Collins Bartlett (July 8, 1873 – September 14, 1963) was an American bibliographer, Shakespeare scholar, and creator of the first modern census of Shakespeare's published drama. She has been called "one of the foremost bibliographers ...

and

Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt (1882-1963) was an American bookbinder and book collector, specializing in botanical literature. Early life Rachel McMasters Miller was born in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1882 to Rachel Hughey McMasters Miller (186 ...

. It was named in honor of

Hrotsvitha Hrotsvitha (–973) was a secular canoness who wrote drama and Christian poetry under the Ottonian dynasty. She was born in Bad Gandersheim to Saxon nobles and entered Gandersheim Abbey as a canoness. She is considered the first female writer ...

of Gandersheim, a 10th-century German secular

canoness A canoness is a member of a religious community of women, historically a stable community dedicated to the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours in a particular church. The name corresponds to a canon, the male equivalent, and both roles share a ...

, dramatist and poet. At the time of the Club's founding, women bibliophiles were not allowed membership in many premier bibliographic societies such as 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, T ...

, the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America, or the

Caxton Club The Caxton Club is a private social club and bibliophilic society founded in Chicago in 1895 to promote the book arts and the history of the book. To further its goals, the club hosts monthly events, collaborates with institutions like the New ...

. (This policy remained in place at both the Grolier and Caxton Clubs until 1976.) The first meeting of the Hroswitha Club was held on November 16, 1944, at the Cosmopolitan Club. It held regular meetings four to five times a year at multiple locations, and held its 200th meeting in 1994. Members of the Hroswitha Club included authors, bibliographers, librarians, curators, and private collectors. Individual members had a wide range of collecting interests - they collected books not just about Hroswitha, but also

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, " military costumes," and

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

; at least one member was a collector of

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

. By the 1950s, membership had been reportedly capped at 40 members. Some notable members were Sarah Gildersleeve Fife, Anne Lyon Haight,

, Frances Hooper, Ruth S. Granniss (librarian to the Grolier Club),

, Rosamond B. Loring, Eleanor Cross Marquand, and Shakespeare scholar

Activities

Members of the Hroswitha Club included authors, bibliographers, librarians, curators, and private collectors. They exchanged ideas, carried out research, and organized talks and visits to book collecting institutions both private and public. In 1948 Belle da Costa Greene, one of the few professional women then in the club, organized a visit to the

Pierpont Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum (originally known as the Pierpont Morgan Library and colloquially known the Morgan) is a museum and research library in New York City, New York, U.S. Completed in 1906 as the private library of the banker J. P. Morg ...

, giving group members access to the vault of rare materials. Additionally, the Club published several works throughout the 20th century, most notably a 1965 bibliography of Hroswitha almost a decade in the making; entitled ''Hroswitha of Gandersheim: Her Life, Times and Works,'' it was edited by Anne Lyon Haight with contributions from other Club members. Members carried out original research, establishing the dates that Hroswitha's dramas were performed. The Club also commissioned a life of Hroswitha, by Robert Herndon Fife (1947). The Club maintained its own private library, established in 1948 and later named the Sarah Gildersleeve Fife Memorial Library in honor of the club's founder; it specialized in books about Hroswitha, books published by members of the club, and other books of interest to collectors. The club's official bookplate was inspired by a copy of

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

's woodcut of Hroswitha that Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt acquired and donated to the club; she later had her friend Sarah B. Hill design the club's bookplate based on the woodcut. Records of the Club's correspondence and activities are found principally at the Grolier Club. Additionally, the

Princeton University Library Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...

holds an address to the Club on the occasion of their visit by scholar and collector Miriam Y. Holden.

Publications

* Barlow, Marjorie Dana. ''Notes on woman printers in Colonial America and the United States, 1639-1975.'' (New York: Hroswitha Club; Charlottesville, Va.: distributed by the University Press of Virginia, 1976) * Haight, Anne Lyon. ''Hroswitha of Gandersheim: her life, times and works, and a comprehensive bibliography.'' (New York: Hroswitha Club, 1965)

References

External links

*Finding aid fo
Deborah Evetts collection of material relating to Hroswitha Club, 1944- 1994
at the Grolier Club. * Finding aid for th
Henrietta C. Bartlett papers
at the

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and ...

(of particular interest is Series IV, documents related to the Hroswitha Club, 1940-1961) *Miriam Y. Holden Collectio
main page
an
finding aid
at the

.
"The Trials and Tribulations of a Woman Book Collector"
post at ''American Book Collecting'' (blog)
"Women Collectors in Their Own Words"
post at ''Adventures in Book Collecting'' (blog) {{Authority control Bibliophilia Book collecting Book clubs American book and manuscript collectors Women's clubs in the United States 1944 establishments in New York City History of women in New York City