The Grolier Club Exhibitions, Lectures, Meetings, September to December 2014
“On the evening of January 23, 1884, New York printing press manufacturer and book collector Robert Hoe invited to his home eight fellow bibliophiles to discuss the formation of a club devoted to the book arts. Although the nine men differed in age, occupation and social position, they shared the opinion that the arts of printing and typography in late 19th-century America were in need of reform. Hoe and his associates were all involved in the editing, design, production, sale or acquisition of fine books, and his invitation fired their imaginations. They were also men of action, and before the evening ended, a resolution had been adopted specifying the purpose of the organization, a committee had been appointed to choose a name for the group, and another to draft a constitution ...”
This evening, described by director Eric Holzenberg, marked the foundation of the Grolier Club. Named after the French Renaissance collector Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, who was renowned for sharing his library with friends, the Grolier Club has become America’s oldest and one of the world’s most important bibliographic societies. Based in New York the Grolier maintains a huge library specializing in bibliography and bibliophily, the history of printing, book binding, illustration and the antiquarian book trade including extensive collections of book auction and book seller catalogues and whole archives and collections of a number of prominent bibliophiles such as Sir Thomas Phillipps, Jean Grolier, Thomas Wotton (the "English Grolier"), Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Frognall Dibdin. The Library also holds a number of important dealer archives, including those of Édouard Rahir, Arthur Swann and E. P. Goldschmidt.
The mission of the Grolier Club is “to foster the study, collecting, and appreciation of books and works on paper, their art, history, production, and commerce”. To this purpose numerous books and exhibition catalogues are published or sponsored, and a series of book-related events is regularly being held at the Grolier. The fall season of Grolier events starts in September with a Seamus Heaney exhibition followed by other amazing lectures, exhibitions and meetings until December 2014, including the first “Grolier Club Hundred Exhibition” in twenty years.
An overview:
September 11 - November 1, 2014
"Seamus Heaney: A Life Well Written. Selections from the collections of Carolyn & Ward Smith, Alan M. Klein, and Rand Brandes."
Exhibition, open to the public free of charge, Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm.
September 17 - November 22, 2014
"Evermore: The Persistence of Poe. From the Edgar Allan Poe Collection of Susan Jaffe Tane.”
Exhibition, open to the public free of charge, Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm.
September 18, 2014, 6 pm
“Horace Walpole's Library”. A lecture by Stephen Clarke
September 19, 2014, 6 pm
The Society of Scribes celebrates its 40th Anniversary in "A Conversation with Alice"
Featuring founding member Alice Koeth, and Jerry Kelly.
October 15, 2014, 6 pm
Grolier Club member Richard Kopley, Distinguished Professor of English at Penn State, will speak about Edgar Allan Poe
In connection with the current exhibition, "Evermore: The Persistence of Poe."
October 23, 2014, 6 pm
Daniel Garrison, Classics Professor at Northwestern University, will speak about his work on the new English language edition of Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica.
Co-sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.
November 13, 2104 - January 10, 2015
"50th Anniversary of Mao's Little Red Book. From the Collection of Justin Schiller."
Exhibition, open to the public, Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm.
November 17, 2014, 6 pm
Bernard H. Breslauer Lecture by Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas is Vice-President for the Harvard Library, and former Director of the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University.
THE FIRST 'GROLIER HUNDRED' EXHIBITION IN TWENTY YEARS:
December 10, 2014 - February 7, 2015
"One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature."
Curated by Chris Loker. Exhibition, open to the public, Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm.
December 10 and December 11, 2014, 1 pm
Lunchtime Exhibition Tours.
A walk-through of the "One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature" exhibition, led by curator Chris Loker.
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For more information about the Grolier Club, visit www.grolierclub.org, and click here for further book-related events worldwide. (Pictures: Wikipedia, Grolier Club)
