Caxton Club Explained

Caxton Club
Formation:[1]
Type:Social club
Purpose:To promote the book arts and the history of the book
Headquarters:60 W. Walton St., Chicago, Illinois
Location:Chicago, Illinois
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Sarah M. Pritchard[2]
Main Organ:Caxtonian
Website:www.caxtonclub.org

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 holds monthly (September through June) dinner meetings and luncheons, sponsors bibliophile events (often in collaboration with the Newberry Library and with other regional institutions) and exhibitions, and publishes books, exhibition catalogs, and a monthly journal, The Caxtonian.[3] The Caxton Club is a member club of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies.[4]

History

The Caxton Club was founded in 1895 by a group of fifteen bibliophiles to support the publication of fine books in the style of the then-new Arts and Crafts Movement.[5] The club's name honors the fifteenth-century English printer William Caxton.[6] The founders included John Vance Cheney, Edward E. Ayer, Martin A. Ryerson, James Ellsworth, Charles L. Hutchinson, and Washington Irving Way and Chauncey L. Williams (of Way & Williams).[7]

In 1976, women began to be admitted as members of the Caxton Club, marking a departure from the common practice in gentlemen's clubs of excluding women before that era.[8] Mary Beth Beal is notable for being the Caxton Club’s first female President in 1985-1986.[9]

In 1995 the Caxton Club centenary was celebrated with publication of The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago [10] which has been characterized as a "significant addition to the history of American bibliophily."[11]

The Club published several fine editions in partnership with the Lakeside Press of Chicago.[12]

The Club awards scholarships and grants to students and researchers in the book arts.[13]

Notable members

Publications

In the course of its history, the Caxton Club has published formal publications and other printed pieces. These include The French Bookbinders of the Eighteenth Century,[32] The Cowboy in American Literature by J. Frank Dobie, [33] Tales for Bibliophiles.[34] and Imaginary Books and Libraries.[35]

A complete listing of the publications is available here: club’s publications.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: The Caxton Club . . December 8, 1895.
  2. Web site: Officers . Caxton Club . February 24, 2024.
  3. Caxton Club. (2024). https://www.caxtonclub.org/. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  4. Web site: Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies Member Clubs . Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies . April 3, 2012 . dead . https://archive.today/20120720044953/http://fabsbooks.org/MemberClubs.aspx . July 20, 2012 .
  5. Encyclopedia: Gehl . Paul . Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago . Book Arts . March 28, 2010.
  6. Piehl, Frank (1995). The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Caxton Club. p. xiii.
  7. Piehl, Frank (1995). The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Caxton Club. p. 14-15
  8. Piehl, Frank (1995). The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Caxton Club. p. 87-88.
  9. Piehl, Frank (1995). The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Caxton Club. p. 145.
  10. Piehl, Frank (1995). The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Caxton Club.
  11. Holzenberg, Eric J. “The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Frank J. Piehl, Bruce McKittrick.” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 90, no. 3 (1996): 379–81.
  12. Book: Hutner . Martin . 2004 . A Century for the Century: Fine Printed Books from 1900 to 1999 . Grolier Club. 9781567922202. none., p. XXXVII
  13. Web site: Caxton Club - Grants.
  14. Book: Albert Nelson . Marquis . Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 . PDF . March 28, 2010 . 1908 . A. N. Marquis & Company . Chicago . 239.
  15. Web site: Butler, Lee Pierce . Richardson . John . American National Biography Online . February 2000 . March 29, 2010.
  16. News: Robert B. Downs, 87, Librarian and Author. The New York Times. 26 February 1991.
  17. Book: Albert Nelson . Marquis . Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 . PDF . March 28, 2010 . 1908 . A. N. Marquis & Company . Chicago . 530.
  18. Book: Albert Nelson . Marquis . Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 . PDF . March 28, 2010 . 1908 . A. N. Marquis & Company . Chicago . 579.
  19. Book: Albert Nelson . Marquis . Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 . PDF . March 28, 2010 . 1908 . A. N. Marquis & Company . Chicago . 669.
  20. Web site: Shaw. Paul. An appreciation of Frederic W. Goudy as a type designer. July 12, 2015.
  21. The Caxton Club Yearbook 1965 104, and Yearbook 1971 Supplement
  22. Schreyer, Alice."In Memoriam: Nancy Elizabeth Gwinn." The Caxtonian 32 (September/October 2024): 9.
  23. Northwestern Libraries. (2018). Koch, Theodore Wesley, 1871-1941. Northwestern University. https://findingaids.library.northwestern.edu/agents/people/2141. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  24. The Caxton Club Year Book 1971 112
  25. Web site: Lynch, Beverly P. (1936-) - The American Library Association Archives. archives.library.illinois.edu.
  26. https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2021/10/dean-of-libraries-sarah-pritchard-to-retire/ Dean of Libraries Sarah Pritchard plans to retire in 2022 Longtime dean led transformation of library services
  27. The Caxton Club Yearbook 1971 115
  28. Book: Albert Nelson . Marquis . Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 . PDF . March 28, 2010 . 1908 . A. N. Marquis & Company . Chicago . 1699.
  29. News: Johnson . Steve . The Newberry Library set to undergo $11 million renovation . 3 October 2018 . Chicago Tribune . June 14, 2017.
  30. Web site: Peggy Sullivan Named ALA Honorary Member in 2008. No. 7.4.2008. 110 . Librarian . https://web.archive.org/web/20120211151919/http://librarian.lishost.org/?p=1114 . 11 February 2012 .
  31. Book: Twombly, Robert . Frank Lloyd Wright: His Life and His Architecture . Wiley . New York . 1979 . 33 . 0-471-85797-1 .
  32. Uzanne, Octave, and Mabel McIlvine. 1904. The French Bookbinders of the Eighteenth Century Chicago: The Caxton Club.
  33. Owens, Harry J., and Caxton Club. 1952. The Cowboy in American Literature by J. Frank Dobie : Caxton Club, February 16, 1952. [Chicago, Illinois]: [Caxton Club]
  34. Koch, Theodore Wesley, and Caxton Club. 1929. Tales for Bibliophiles. Chicago: The Caxton Club.
  35. Spargo, John Webster, Bruce Rogers, Caxton Club, and Pforzheimer Bruce Rogers Collection (Library of Congress). 1952. Imaginary Books and Libraries: An Essay in Lighter Vein. Chicago: Caxton Club.

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