St. Louis Mercantile Library PrizeFunded by the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, this prize encourages scholarship in the bibliography of American history and literature. Awarded every three years, the prize …

Funded by the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, this prize encourages scholarship in the bibliography of American history and literature. The prize brings a cash award of $2,000 and a year’s membership in the …

About the Annual MeetingThe BSA Annual Meeting features the New Scholars Program, a keynote lecture, and synchronous panel presentations in the morning. Details about the panel presentations and New Scholars program can be found in the News section …

Earlier this fall the BSA Events Planning Sub-Committee called for proposals for the morning panels at the 2026 Annual Meeting on the subject of bibliographical mysteries, both those we have been able to solve and those that remain enigmatic. The …

At the upcoming BSA Annual Meeting on 23 January 2026 the Society will announce the election of a new slate of members to the Council. Active members will be invited to vote electronically starting 12 January 2026, with voting closing on 22 January …

Attend the 2026 New Scholars Program on 23 January 2026 for in-person presentations and a group Q&A. Jacob Blanck New Scholar: Cassandra Gillig (Northwestern University)I Have Stone Butch Blues : Tracing the Publication Lineage of a Trans …

In person, New York City Friday 23 January 2026 10:00–11:30 am

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is thrilled to announce the winners for the 2026 St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize for the bibliography of American history and literature.  The prize committee selected the following works from a robust …

The submission portal for the 2026 New Scholars Program opens on 16 June 2025! Applications and letters of recommendation are due 12 September 2025.Visit the New Scholars Program page to learn more about the application and start preparing your …

Applications for the 2026 Fellowship Program award cycle are due on 3 December 2025. Learn more about the application process below.

Endowed by Justin G. Schiller, a dealer in antiquarian children’s books and past member of the BSA Council, the Schiller Prize for Bibliographical Work on Children’s Books is intended to encourage scholarship in the bibliography of historical …

Endowed by Justin G. Schiller, a dealer in antiquarian children’s books and past member of the BSA Council, the Schiller Prize for Bibliographical Work on Children’s Books is intended to encourage scholarship in the bibliography of historical …

Endowed by Justin G. Schiller, a dealer in antiquarian children’s books and past member of the BSA Council, the Schiller Prize for Bibliographical Work on Children’s Books is intended to encourage scholarship in the bibliography of historical …

Join BSA member and Granary Books Co-director M.C. Kinniburgh at 3pm Eastern for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is a great opportunity to learn about the book trade, book fair best practices, and to get to know some …

Join BSA member and NYPL Rare Books Librarian Kyle Triplett at 1pm Eastern for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is a great opportunity to learn about the book trade, book fair best practices, and to get to know some …

What is Bibliography Week, anyway? Join members of the BSA Membership Committee 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 …

Each year, the BSA awards one of its three triennial, endowed prizes to recognize excellence in bibliographical publications.Each prize has its own topical focus:The Mitchell Prize recognizes scholarship on British serials. Next awarded in 2027.The …

The BSA is pleased to provide members with an array of benefits to support your work and research. Access our journal online and any of the other benefits we offer on this page.

From Our Leadership

Material texts created by/for and studied by under-represented groups deserve better representation within all forms of bibliographical scholarship. Bibliographers who identify as (in alphabetical order) BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and/or People of …

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) New Scholars Program strives to welcome researchers who have not previously published, lectured, or taught on bibliographical subjects by nurturing and promoting their scholarship. Each year, three New …

BSA events present the study of material texts to our community, bringing people and ideas together. They celebrate, nurture, and incubate new ideas around research, practice, and pedagogy, and almost all are open to the public. Virtual and …

PBSA is eager to publish the latest bibliographical research, whether the focus is on subjects that have traditionally been seen as bibliography or on subjects that push and redefine the boundaries of what bibliography can do. PBSA publishes …

At the BSA Annual Meeting, gather to celebrate and share bibliographical scholarship. At public lectures, workshops, and talks we talk about bibliographical practice and its relevance to research, pedagogy, scholarship, and public humanities …

Exploring the production, use, collection, and care of textual artifacts

When you join the BSA, you become part of a virtuous cycle within the wider bibliographical community. Members’ dues help the Society sustain its programs: employing a full-time Executive Director,  maintaining the digital platforms – like our …

We find out what books are made of and why.As a field of inquiry, bibliography understands texts as artifacts – like books, manuscripts, fragments, tactile texts, image-based texts, digital texts, and more – that reflect the people and cultures that …

In keeping with the central value the Society places on bibliography as a critical framework, the BSA funds a number of fellowships to promote inquiry and research in books and other textual artifacts in both traditional and emerging formats.

The BSA Bylaws govern our society, providing a rule book for how we pursue our mission.

About the Annual MeetingThe BSA Annual Meeting features the New Scholars Program, a keynote lecture, and for the first time, synchronous panel presentations in the morning. Details about the New Scholars program will be shared in November …

PBSA publishes reviews in order to fulfill its mission of sharing current bibliographical research. As such, we aim for reviews that help readers understand the scope and argument of the work being reviewed, situating its significance in terms of …

Coming to New York for Bibliography Week? Can’t wait to see you this January! We hope the information below will help you plan your trip.

The Bibliographical Society of America is a membership organization that has fostered the study of books and other textual artifacts since 1904.

The Bibliographical Society of America seeks to serve its members by crafting a benefits program that meets the needs members working across the professional spectrum. In addition accessing to our peer-reviewed journal online, members can sharpen …

Executive Summary

About the Roundtable EventGranary Books will host a roundtable discussion at the Grolier Club as part of the exhibition After Words: Visual and Experimental Poetry in Little Magazines and Small Presses, 1960–2025. The conversation will feature …

Review the information below as you consider applying to the BSA Fellowship Program.The deadline for applications for fellowships to be awarded in 2026 is Wednesday 3 December 2025 at 11:59 pm Eastern.

The BSA Events Planning Sub-Committee invited our community of bookmakers and sellers, collectors, conservators, curators, educators, librarians, scholars, and students to submit proposals for a session centered on the myriad ways we activate …

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” — PericlesOrganized in 1904 and incorporated in 1927, the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is the oldest scholarly society in …

Bibliography Week is an annual event held in January when the several national organizations devoted to book scholarship and the book arts, including BSA, the American Printing History Association, and the Grolier Club, have their annual …

BSA-ICMS Liaison Gina Hurley has organized, with Katherine Hindley and BSA New Scholars Chair Agnieszka Rec, the following events to take place as part of the 60th International Congress on Medieval Studies on site at Western Michigan …

New Histories of the Small Press

This day-and-a-half-long, in-person symposium brings together scholars, practitioners, and archivists to present research on the broad topic of “textuality.” This symposium deliberately draws together various modes of engagement with texts, …

Registration is not required, but is recommended!

Congratulations to the 2024 New Scholars! Winners presented fifteen-minute talks on their research during the program preceding the Society’s Annual Meeting on January 26 as part of Bibliography Week. In addition to presenting live at the Annual …

VisionWe broaden access to bibliographical community, resources, and scholarship. We expand traditional definitions of scholars and scholarship to include everyone engaged with and interested in bibliographical knowledge, no matter their background …

Since the earliest days of BSA’s history at the dawn of the 20th century, members and friends of the Society have sustained our organization by giving while also building a philanthropic legacy for themselves. There are several different ways …

Creating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive community of bibliographical researchers that encourages participation by all those interested in bibliographical studies is a fundamental value of the BSA. We expect members to treat others with …

We’ve created a short reading list to help you learn more. Most of the texts below are excerpts from longer works by their respective authors. While many of the writers cited focus on particular aspects of textual materiality within …

At this event at the Okanagan Special Collections at the University of British Columbia, Jason Dewinetz of Greenboathouse Press and Clare Thiessen of broke press will each discuss their processes of printing and creating books from the perspective …

About the Conference

Celebration and Lecture

Become a member and join a lively, thriving, and diverse intellectual community centering the study of material texts. BSA members are entitled to an array of exciting benefits to support them in expanding their professional skills, knowledge, and …

Attend the 2025 New Scholars Program on 24 January 2025 for in-person presentations and a group Q&A. D.F. McKenzie New Scholar: Javiera Barrientos (Rutgers University)Literary Landfills. Bibliographic Waste and its RepresentationsBSA New …

At the upcoming BSA Annual Meeting on January 26, 2024 the Society will announce the election of a new slate of members to the Council. Active members will be invited to vote electronically starting January 15, with voting closing on January 26, …

We’re so glad you’re here. Where to next?

The BSA Council provides strategic leadership for the organization, defining our mission and values and prioritizing initiatives to achieve them. Members of the Council serve as advocates and ambassadors for the Society’s initiatives and programs. …

Revisiting Jonathan Edwards and the “Bad Books” ControversyIn 1744 Jonathan Edwards learned that several of the young men of his Northampton congregation had in their possession certain “bad books,” with content evidently of a sexual …

Join the Center for Public Humanities at Oakland University (Rochester, MI) for an artist talk and bookmaking workshop led by award-winning book artist Erin K. Schmidt. Schmidt, a 2023 Kresge Artist Fellow, creates quiet, evocative spaces within her …

This paper examines the verbiage and typographical layout of playbook and sermon titles printed in sixteenth and seventeenth century London. Through long-term analyses of title design features, including naming convention, word count, line count, …

Readers, Makers, and Medieval Consumer Culture: MSS and Books from 1350–1550What were medieval bestsellers? What constituted the book market in the Middle Ages? This conference addresses these questions from many angles: by considering manuscripts …

What is bibliography if not a list of books? Bibliography is much more than your “works cited” page.As a field of inquiry, bibliography examines the artifactual value of texts – including books, manuscripts, and digital texts – and how they reflect …

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is a membership organization that has fostered the study of books and other textual artifacts since 1904. We believe that examining the lives of texts unlocks a new understanding of our global cultural …

On 20-21 May 2025, Skeuomorph Press will host “Building Book Labs: Hands-On Research & Teaching in Book History.”During multiple workshops and sessions, scholars and students will:theorize experiential research and teaching in book history and …

Day two of the Fresh Perspectives Symposium will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, 19 March from 3:30-5 pm Eastern. Additional dates to be announced soon! 

In the current political environment, the US American South is regarded as a regressive region for LGBTQ+ rights. However, the South has a rich and thriving intersectional history, carried out and carried on by community organizations, bookstores, …

Renaissance Libraries: Then and Now I21 March, 9–10:30am, Boston Westin Copley Place - Empire Room - 7th FloorFollow the links below for paper abstracts and speaker bios. Chaired by Joseph Black, University of Massachusetts Amherst.Between …

The BSA is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025 Fellowship awards. This year’s fellows represent a diverse and exceptional cohort of bibliographers whose research promises to illuminate critical aspects of textual studies.The 2025 …

At the upcoming BSA Annual Meeting on 24 January 2025 the Society will announce the election of a new slate of members to the Council. Active members will be invited to vote electronically starting 13 January 2025, with voting closing on 23 January …

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is proud to announce the launch of its redesigned website, a significant leap forward in the organization’s digital presence. The website, bibsocamer.org, promises an enhanced user experience on desktop …

Enthusiastic about the work we do?The committees and working groups of the Bibliographical Society of America have been established to carry out the work that Council and the Executive Committee establish.  Their activities touch upon both the …

Lecture by Ronnie Perelis, Chief Rabbi Dr. Isaac Abraham and Jelena (Rachel) Alcalay Associate Professor of Sephardic Studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies of Yeshiva UniversityThe case of Luis de Carvajal, the younger and …

Join BSA Secretary Meghan Constantinou at 3pm Eastern for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is your opportunity to learn about the book trade, best practices, and to get to know some of your fellow travelers and …

The BSA New Scholars Program, fellowships, and prizes nurture new research in the field, support contributions by emerging bibliographers, and recognize excellence in recently published scholarship.Wondering where to start?The New Scholars Program …

The Bibliographical Society of America makes four types of awards: funding awards for events, fellowships to support research, three triennial awards for published scholarship, and awards to new scholars invited to share their research at the Annual …

In alignment with the Society’s Equity Action Plan, the Publications Committee is working on revitalizing and restructuring the Society’s monograph publication program. The BSA has taken immense pride in the publishing program since its inception in …

BSA events present the study of material texts to our community, bringing people and ideas together. They celebrate, nurture, and incubate new ideas around research, practice, and pedagogy, and almost all are open to the public. Virtual and …

The Events Planning Sub-Committee of the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) invites our community of bookmakers and sellers, collectors, conservators, curators, educators, librarians, scholars, and students to submit proposals for a session …

In recent decades, the field of medieval studies has experienced a “global turn.” As a growing contingent of scholars examine the Middle Ages across geographies, cultures, and linguistic communities, the scope of medieval collections within …

Join Elizabeth Ott—Associate University Librarian for Special Collections, Rose Library Director—at 12:30pm Eastern for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is your opportunity to learn about the book trade, best …

Join us for a special virtual fundraising event as part of our 2025 Spring Sprint! We’re celebrating the launch of Katie Mitchell’s Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores and inspiring crucial donations for the BSA Annual …

Event Details

Thursday 13 March 20256pm–7:30pmHarvard University, Thompson Room (Barker Center) & Zoom.

Visit the Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle at the New York Public Library

Join the BSA events planning sub-committee for a tour of Merriam-Webster’s headquarters in Springfield MA. Lexicographer Peter Sokolowski will provide an in-depth view of the physical plant, the lexicographic routines of the press, a look at …

Applicants and recommenders experiencing technical difficulties with Kaleidoscope are encouraged to contact the Kaleidoscope help desk by emailing help@mykaleidoscope.com at any time. Someone from their tech support team replies to emails within 1 …

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is thrilled to announce the winners for the 2025 Justin G. Schiller Prize for the best bibliographic study of pre-1951 children’s literature.  The prize committee, consisting of scholars and curators …

Service on a Committee or Working Group is one of the most consequential and rewarding ways for members to be involved in the work of the Society.The BSA seeks a diverse and inclusive roster of volunteers, and we welcome self-nominations from …

The Council is proud to announce that Lisa Unger Baskin has made a promised gift of $42,500, half of the total amount required, to endow the Dorothy Porter Wesley Fellowship in perpetuity. The Fellowship of $3,000 is awarded each year to a Black …

Volunteer for Committee ServiceDeadline: 1 October 2025Service on a Committee or Working Group is one of the most consequential and rewarding ways for members to be involved in the work of the Society.The BSA seeks a diverse and inclusive roster of …

Deadline for nominations is August 15, 2023The Bibliographical Society of America seeks seven new Officers and Council Members who will be elected at our Annual Meeting on 26 January 2024. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to BSA’s many …

Call for Nominations for Officers and the Council Class of 2029Deadline: 15 August 2025The Bibliographical Society of America seeks new council members who will be elected at our Annual Meeting on 23 January 2026. This is an exciting opportunity to …

The BSA recognizes that independent scholars, precariously employed academics, and booksellers need research resources and services beyond what most public libraries can offer. Working with the Society Library, we crafted a special option for …

The Bibliographical Society of America is excited to announce our ‘2025 Spring Sprint,’ a new fundraising initiative aimed at raising $15,000 by July 1st. This crucial effort will directly support the administration of our fellowship …

For many people, monies accumulated in IRAs or employer retirement plans may be the most significant source of wealth amassed during their lifetime.Retirement accounts increasingly have become the resource of choice for individuals who wish to make …

From January 22–27, 2024 the Bibliographical Society of America celebrated Bibliography Week with a series of events designed to demonstrate bibliographical practice and its relevance to interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities. The …

Applications to the 2026 New Scholars program, including letters of recommendation, are now due Friday 12 September 2025.Visit the New Scholars Program page to learn more about the application and start preparing your materials.

Exhibition curators Josh O’Driscoll and Frank Trujillo will speak about the origins of Tarot in Renaissance Italy, the earliest surviving decks from the fifteenth century, and the cards’ ongoing relevance as a source for artists in the …

BSA-ASECS Liaison Emily Spunaugle organized organized the following panel at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies taking place on 5 April 2025. Registration required; details online.5 April 2025, 12:30pm …

Join us for The Best Kept Secret: 200 Years of Blooks at Center for Book Arts, an original exhibition opening 16 January 2025. The Best Kept Secret considers 250 years of hand-crafted book-shaped objects—made by craftspeople, artists, and …

What is Bibliography Week, anyway? Join BSA members Charlotte Priddle and William P. Stoneman and 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 …

Join BSA Executive Director Erin McGuirl for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is your opportunity to learn about the book trade, best practices, and to get to know some of your fellow travelers and members of the book …

This session offers an opportunity to hear about the Cambridge University Press Elements Series on Publishing and Book Culture.This series aims to fill the demand for easily accessible, quality texts available for teaching and research in the …

The Events Committee invites you to request funding & sponsorship for your bibliographical events! The BSA hosts public programs and collaborates with related organizations in accordance with our mission to foster the study of books and other …

Join BSA for a guided tour—led by the curator, Amanda Wunder—of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library’s current exhibition, Spanish Style: Fashion Illuminated, 1550-1700. Registration is required and attendance is limited to 25 …

Join the events planning sub-committee and Molly Schwartzburg, Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts at Houghton Library, for a tour of her newest exhibition Harvard by Hand: The Bow & Arrow Press at 45.Founded in 1978, the Bow & …

“Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.” – Mark Twain, Letters from the EarthLeipzig. Tauchnitz. These names probably don’t leap to mind when you consider the history of popularizing American and …

This session explores indigenous Mexica and Quecha manuscripts created between the 14th and early 17th centuries in what is today Mexico and Peru. The impact of European colonial culture on the manuscripts’ creation and interpretation will be …

Literary Landfills. Bibliographic Waste and its Representations In this presentation, I examine the circulation, uses and representations of bibliographic waste found in viceregal vellum limp-bindings held at the Biblioteca Patrimonial Recoleta …

I Have Stone Butch Blues : Tracing the Publication Lineage of a Trans Bestseller“I Have Stone Butch Blues” outlines the publication and distribution history of Leslie Feinberg’s groundbreaking 1993 novel and examines how this significant work of …

Dastur Dr. Dhalla Collection: A Case Study on Zoroastrian Community Libraries aims to historicize Zoroastrians, an ethno-religious minority in South Asia, particularly within print culture and their role in community libraries. Much has been written …

Biblio-Internationalism: Chinese Rare Books and Transpacific Alliance between the National Library of Beiping and the Library of Congress, 1926-1945In the two decades before and during WWII, Yuan Tongli, director of the National Library of Beiping …

What becomes of a Cold War bunker after its last use during the Cuban Missile Crisis? Naturally, it becomes a storage site for the books and journals of the Five College Library Repository Collection.Join the BSA Events Planning Sub-Committee for a …

Visibility Through Invisibility: Black Librarianship in the Early 20th Century

On the unanimous recommendation of all present at a meeting of the Council, the Society may elect honorary members who shall be exempt from dues, provided, however, that the number of such honorary members shall never exceed ten at any one time.–BSA …

Congratulations to the 2024 Fellowship Award Winners! This year, as always, the Society will support the research of individuals from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, working across the allied bookish professions.The Council and Officers are …

In 1904, the year the Bibliographical Society of America was first organized, writer and activist Charles Waddell Chesnutt published his sharp-witted “Baxter’s Procrustes” in a June issue of the Atlantic Monthly. It was an amusing critique on the …

The submission portal for the 2025 New Scholars Program opens on June 15, 2024! Applications and letters of recommendation are due 10 September 2024.Visit the New Scholars Program page to learn more about the application and start preparing your …

Volunteer for Committee ServiceDeadline: 1 October 2024Service on a Committee or Working Group is one of the most consequential and rewarding ways for members to be involved in the work of the Society.The BSA seeks a diverse and inclusive roster of …

Volunteer for Council ServiceDeadline: 1 October 2024The Bibliographical Society of America seeks three new Council members who will be elected at our Annual Meeting on 25 January 2025. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to BSA’s many …

Articles“Bastard Hands: Fifteenth-Century Scripts and the Processes of Medieval Making” by Seamus Dwyer“Shakespeare in Samuel Beckett’s Library” by Dirk Van Hulle and Pim Verhulst “William Temple Franklin and the Publication of Benjamin Franklin’s …

BSA Executive Director Erin McGuirl here, once again, to say that I am glowing, buzzing, and pinching myself. An anonymous donor is celebrating Lisa Unger Baskin by matching her promised gift to fund the Dorothy Porter Wesley Fellowship for Black …

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) focuses its advocacy on promoting bibliographical research and bibliophilic pursuits to its membership and to the general public. To this end, the BSA provides clear messaging about internal …

The Bibliographical Society of America conducts its business on the traditional and ancestral lands and waters of the Lenni-Lenape People in Lenapehoking, currently known by settlers as New York City. The BSA recognizes the Lenni-Lenape’s preferred …

BSA recognizes that volunteers on the Council, committees, and working groups must balance many competing priorities when fulfilling service commitments for the Society. Similarly, the Society’s Executive Director must balance many competing …

Applications for the 2025 Fellowship Program award cycle are due on 1 December 2024. Learn more about the application process below.

Program details, including venue, speaker, and registration information, will be added to the website in early autumn 2026.

The hybrid symposium, “Library Pasts and Presents: Asian Textual Artifacts in the U.S,” will be held at UCLA on Friday 10 April from 12-3:30 PM Pacific. This event brings together librarians, archivists, and curators across the country to …

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 …

Join BSA Executive Director Erin McGuirl for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is your opportunity to learn about the book trade, best practices, and to get to know some of your fellow travelers and members of the book …

Join BSA at 3pm Eastern for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is your opportunity to learn about the book trade, best practices, and to get to know some of your fellow travelers and members of the book trade!The …

Join BSA at 12:30pm Eastern for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is your opportunity to learn about the book trade, best practices, and to get to know some of your fellow travelers and members of the book trade!The …

The Creative Vision of Alice Millard (1873-1938), Innovative Antiquarian Bookseller

“Collecting the Medieval Book in America” is a conference, featuring a keynote lecture by Lisa Fagin Davis, Director of the Medieval Academy of America, and a panel discussion with library curators, faculty, and antiquarian booksellers.Panel …

Join BSA Executive Director Erin McGuirl in attending the 2024 Empire State Rare Book & Print Fair. Director McGuirl will be present throughout the fair with a rotating cast of BSA member volunteers – stop by and say hello!The Empire State Rare …

Join the Events Planning Committee of the BSA to explore The New York Public Library’s collections at the flagship 42nd Street building. Curators and Librarians from the Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, the Berg Collection of …

The third installment of the Fresh Perspectives Symposium will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, 18 June from 1-2:30 pm Eastern.

Founded in 1884, the Grolier Club is America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles and is a unique library, museum and clubhouse. It is headquartered in a 1917 Georgian Revival building designed by club member and noted architect …

The Cambridge University Library recently purchased a previously unknown notebook kept by Isaac Newton’s chamber-fellow, John Wickins, in the years around 1680. It is possible to identify the contents of the notebook as being previously unknown …

Join the Events Planning Sub-Committee for a guided tour of Letra Muerta Inc., an award winning design studio, Latin American center and workshop space that opened in NYC in 2022. Originally the project was founded by a publisher, Faride Mereb in …

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 …

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 …

In this talk, Joshua Calhoun discussed his recent book The Nature of the Page: Poetry, Papermaking, and the Ecology of Texts in Renaissance England. Exploring the ecopoetic interplay between human ideas and the plant, animal, and mineral forms …

The Matter of Diasporic Record: Gwendolyn Brooks’s Print Culture & PoeticsIn the June 1967 issue of Negro Digest/Black World, Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “Boy Breaking Glass” interrupts a review of Franz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks. On the …

Printing for the People: The Neolith a Lithographic Magazine 1907-1908Between November 1907 and August 1908 four issues of The Neolith, an art and literature magazine, were published in London. While its contents did not generally diverge from …

Fort William College, founded in Calcutta in 1801 to teach Indian languages to English East India Company officers, employed local writers and scribes to produce teaching materials, resulting in a flurry of literary production as they adapted extant …

In conjunction with the annual Vagantes Conference on Medieval Studies, the ensemble Schola Cantorum will perform chants by Hildegard von Bingen. Dr. Honey Meconi will introduce the performance with a talk contextualizing the chants within their …

BSA-RSA Liaison Dr. Aaron T. Pratt organized the following panels at the 2024 Renaissance Society of America (RSA) Conference in Chicago, IL. Registration required; details online.March 22, 2024 – Selling Old Books in Early Modern EnglandMegan …

This two-day event united talks from book historians and practicing book artists, featuring a plenary address by artist Suzanne Coley and a panel featuring special guest Jennifer Low, an early modern scholar and apprentice book artist. The symposium …

The BSA works with Rare Book School and the American Antiquarian Society to provide scholarships for students seeking to study bibliography. Learn more about these opportunities below.

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is thrilled to announce the winners of the St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize, an annual academic book prize honoring scholarship in the bibliography of American history and literature.The Prize Committee …

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) seeks a new Associate Editor to join the editorial team for The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (PBSA). The Associate Editor will work closely with Editor Sarah Werner—along with the …

The Society is excited to debut a new benefit for members in 2022: access to the ACLS Humanities Ebook Collection at the discounted rate of $25/year. This curated resource features over 5,700 scholarly books from over 125 publishers. These include …

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) and the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) are proud to announce a new collaborative project: BibliographyWeek.org.This new project is designed to promote Bibliography Week and make it …

The BSA Officers and members of the Council warmly invite you to attend the Society’s Bibliography Week program and our Annual Meeting from 22 to 24 January 2025!Our Annual Meeting takes place during Bibliography Week, is an annual event held in …

Meet BSA’s new Executive Director

The Material Text in Latin America: Local Traditions and Intercultural Dialogue The Bibliographical Society of America’s sponsored session at the College Art Association Annual Conference  New York City, February 12–15, 2025The goal of this …

BSA events present the study of material texts to our community, bringing people and ideas together. They celebrate, nurture, and incubate new ideas around research, practice, and pedagogy, and almost all are open to the public. Virtual and …

A Letter from BSA President Kinohi NishikawaThe Bibliographical Society of America is pleased to publish its job posting for the next Executive Director of the organization.It’s an exciting time to embark on a search for this position. The BSA has …

We are delighted to share with you the happy news that Jonathan Senchyne has been named PBSA Associate Editor and began work with the journal on 1 July. The search committee—PBSA Editor Sarah Werner, BSA President Kinohi Nishikawa, and BSA Executive …

On 9 June 2025, Erin McGuirl will leave her position as Executive Director of the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) to become Curator of the Mortimer Rare Book Collection at Smith College. McGuirl has served as the Executive Director since …

At the May meeting of the Council, members voted unanimously in favor of a revision to our bylaws changing our membership year from the current, January through December year, to a new, October through September.Why?Asking members to renew in …

From the EditorsWe are delighted to share this special issue of PBSA, guest edited by Malcolm Noble and Sarah Pyke. Queer bibliography, as their rationale discusses, is a practice that has a long history even if it has only recently been labeled as …

The Impact of The Bibliographical Society of America—A Personal Appreciation

On June 30, Jesse R. Erickson will conclude his regular term as Coeditor of PBSA. Under Jesse’s leadership, our journal has opened its doors to new authors and readers, expanded the format and range of contributions, and modernized the look of PBSA …

Dear Readers,With this issue we introduce a new volume theme and some small adjustments to our design. This year the cover images will focus on type, covering a range of centuries, continents, and media. It seems only fitting to kick things off with …