2026 is the 550th anniversary of England's first printer, William Caxton, establishing his printing press in Westminster, London. To celebrate, the Bibliographical Society is hosting a series of videos from libraries in the UK and around the world introducing viewers to items printed by Caxton in their collections, with more [...]
The Bibliographical Society is pleased to announce its latest e-publication : Richard J. Goulden, A Worcester bookseller and wine merchant, John Vine Hall’s business letter book, 1805–1814. John Vine Hall (1774–1860) started his career as a bookseller’s errand boy in Maidstone in the 1780s. He later became clerk and agent [...]
Following the recent successful launch of the London Book Trades wiki (LBT: https://lbt.bibsoc.org.uk/), the Bibliographical Society is pleased to announce its latest electronic venture. Our goal is to promote the use of MediaWiki software as a suitable vehicle for bibliographical databases. We have created a 'wiki farm' on our web [...]
Join judges and winners for this behind-the-scenes look at book collecting prizes. In this event we will discuss what makes a good collection, how to craft a winning entry, and how to avoid potential pitfalls in the process. Two prize judges (Anke Timmermann, Cambridge Rose Prize, and Jeremy Carson, PBFA [...]
The Bibliographical Society is sad to learn of the recent death of Professor Michael Twyman, emeritus Professor of Typography at the University of Reading. Professor Twyman was awarded the Society's Gold Medal in 2021. For a list of the Society's Gold Medallists, see https://bibsoc.org.uk/about/gold-medallists/.
The Bibliographical Society is pleased to announce the publication of a new e-resource: Benjamin Wardhaugh, Ancient Greek Mathematics in print, 1475–1703. This can be downloaded as a PDF file from https://bibsoc.org.uk/ancient-greek-mathematics/. For other electronic publications by the Society, see Bibliographical Society e-Publications.
The Bibliographical Society is delighted to announce that two new members have been elected to the Society’s Outreach sub-committee. The sub-committee was established to promote the Society and bibliography through activities catering to a variety of audiences, in addition to our regular monthly lectures and summer visit. To gain fresh [...]
The Bibliographical Society is sad to learn of the death of James Mosley, former Librarian of St Bride Library (1958–2000). He was the recipient of the Society's Gold Medal in 2017 and a signifcant historian of letterpress printing and its equipment.
At our last Council meeting of the academic year we were very pleased to receive the report of the Committee which meets every year or two to consider the award of the Society’s Gold Medal. We are delighted to report that the Gold Medal will be awarded this year to [...]
According to the Society's constitution, three Council members are due to step down at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 28 October 2025. Nominations for Council will therefore be considered at the Council meeting on Wednesday 10 September 2025 and should be submitted to the Hon. Secretary (secretary@bibsoc.org.uk) no later [...]
The Bibliographical Society and CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Group and have joined together for an event on acquisitions, aimed at librarians, archivists and curators although all are welcome! The event will feature the Society's President Nicolas Bell providing an overview of the Acceptance-in-Lieu and Cultural Gifts Scheme and [...]
The Bibliographical Society is pleased to welcome the announcement of the relaunch of the English Short-Title Catalogue (ESTC), now accessible on the servers of the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL). The ESTC team is delighted to launch the Beta version of the new English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), the [...]
