Bibliography Week

Join 35 exhibitors offering books, maps, ephemera, and more for sale at the Bibliography Week Showcase. The Showcase takes place in conjunction with Bibliography Week at FIAF on East 60th Street, just across from the Grolier Club. The Showcase features 30 dealers displaying printed and manuscript material from the Middle Ages to the present day. Admission is free! Browse exhibiting dealers here.

What is Bibliography Week, anyway? Join BSA members Charlotte Priddle and William P. Stoneman, along with Executive Director Erin McGuirl for an overview of this mainstay in the book world, taking place at the end of January each year. During this Zoom meeting, hosts will provide an overview of the program and help attendees prepare for a week of bibliographical events in New York City. We’ll cover the week’s events (virtual, hybrid, and in-person only) and NYC travel basics like weather and local transportation and leave plenty of time for your questions.

Take a tour of the Grolier Club’s ongoing exhibition, “Whodunit? Key Books in Detective Fiction”. This exhibition features mystery novels from the Collection of Jeffrey Johnson. The tour will be lead by the curator.

The second annual Kenneth W. Rendell Lecture on the Importance of Historical Letters and Documents. Grolier member Kenneth W. Rendell will speak on “Hidden Themes in Collecting: What I Discovered About My Own Collecting.”

Art historians Ruiying Gao and Amy McNair will introduce and explore two types of books with ancient roots in Chinese culture: materia medica and seal catalogs. Materia medica convey the healing properties of the natural world. Focusing on illustrated manuscripts, Professor Gao will reconstruct the historical roots of Chinese materia medica, which proliferated from the 7th century. Chinese seals have long been prized for their historical and artistic qualities. Professor McNair will address seal catalogues, attested since the 12th century, and their utility to collectors, artists, and patrons. Bibliographer and book historian Devin Fitzgerald will provide remarks following the presentations.

H. George Fletcher, Curator of “Judging a Book by Its Cover: Bookbindings from the Collections of the Grolier Club, 1470s-2020,” will lecture on the Club’s collection of fine and historic bookbindings in conjunction with Bibliography Week.

Teaching bibliography and book history through making physical books is a current trend at all levels of the educational system. But what impact does making books or other book related objects have on the scholarly record? Or bibliographical practice more generally? This panel, featuring Breanne Weber, Dylan Lewis, and Kadin Henningsen, will explore how three scholars have used their book arts experience to enhance their scholarship as well as their bibliographical practice in different contexts, from publicly available makerspaces to artist’s books. 

A reception will follow the presentation and discussion.

Join curators Margaret D. Stetz and BSA member Mark Samuels Lasner for a special Bibliography Week visit to their exhibition, “Max Beerbohm: The Price of Celebrity”, which closes on January 27. No registration is necessary; all are welcome to come by the ground floor Wahenheim Gallery betwen 10 and 11 am. “Max Beerbohm: The Price of Celebrity” invites visitors to discover the inimitable “Max” (1872-1956) through his satirical writings and withering caricatures. Drawn from across The New York Public Library’s collections, as well as loans from private and institutional collections, this exhibition includes rare original caricature drawings, manuscripts, photographs, books from Beerbohm’s library, and personal items, most on public display for the first time.

Join us at the New York Society Library for a gathering in the Members’ Room. This is an opportunity to meet your fellow members of both the BSA and the Society Library, learn more about our organizations and the many resources we have to offer to the broad community of book people.

Join the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) for the Annual Meeting, beginning at 1pm ET with the New Scholars Program. There will be a short intermission (with food and drink) between the New Scholars’ talks and the Annual Meeting, which begins at 3pm ET with the keynote lecture by Dr. Daniela Bleichmar, “Rethinking the Aztec Past, Rethinking the Codex Mendoza” (details on the BSA website). The Society’s lively annual business meeting will follow, including words from the Society’s Officers, Executive Director, and the PBSA Editors. All are welcome. Seating is limited to 100 people in person; registration is required.

You are cordially invited to the American Printing History Association (APHA) annual meeting on Saturday, January 27, 2024, 2 p.m. (EST) to conduct APHA’s business and celebrate excellence in printing history. For the first time since the pandemic, our 2024 annual meeting will take place in-person in New York City, at the end of “Bibliography Week” as had been our custom for decades. We will meet at the Center for Book Arts in Manhattan (28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor), which like APHA will be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2024. We are very excited about this collaboration with the CBA!