Matthew Payne’s lecture, ‘Who was Elizabeth Northe? John Lettou and London’s first printing press’, is now online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRmU... It examines the circumstances surrounding the setting up of London’s first press, and the distribution of works produced by it in London in the 1480s.

Following the recent successful launch of the London Book Trades wiki (LBT: 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.

Looking forward to welcoming members old and new at the Firsts London book fair. We're here today from 11, and all weekend. Do come and say hello.

Our next lecture will take place on Tuesday 19 May 2026 at 5.30 p.m., at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, and online via Zoom. Andrew Honey, Book Conservator (Research & Training) at the Bodleian Library will deliver the Homee & Phiroze Randeria Lecture.

The Bibliographical Society is looking for three volunteers to help with its FIRSTS London stall at the following times: • Friday the 15th of May, 5-8pm • Sunday the 17th of May, 11am - 1pm • Sunday the 17th of May, 1-3pm

Our next lecture will take place on Tuesday 21 April 2026 at 5.30 p.m., at the Society of Antiquaries, London, and online via Zoom. Matthew Payne, Keeper of the Muniments at Westminster Abbey (also Treasurer and a Vice-President of the Society) will deliver the Graham Pollard memorial lecture.

The Library | Volume 27, Issue 1 The first issue published with LUP on behalf of @bibsoc.bsky.social contains contributions from @tamarajatkin.bsky.social, @saranorja.bsky.social, @brandonwhawk.bsky.social, @samlemley.bsky.social & @tntwining.bsky.social. ➡️ Read it online: bit.ly/Library-27-1

The Bibliographical Society is delighted to announce the launch of a redesigned version of the London Book Trades Database, details of which are in this month’s Council’s Choice: bibsoc.org.uk/councils-cho...

Also now online is the Bibliographical Society’s lecture from February, given by Dr Barbara Heritage, 'Staying in print: The Brontës, 1846-1876': www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0FB...

We are pleased to report that Dr Nicolas Bell’s recent lecture commemorating the centenary of the publication of the Short-Title Catalogue is now available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKFe...

The Library | Most Read 'A True and Impartial Narrative of the Lives of the Fletchers of Oxford, Eighteenth-Century Booksellers' by Christine Ferdinand @bibsoc.bsky.social @ciliprarebooks.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org @davidshaw41.bsky.social 🔗 bit.ly/Library-Ferdinand

The Society’s next meeting will take place on Tuesday, 17 March 2026, at 5.30 p.m., at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, and online via Zoom.

The video from our Winter Virtual Visit to the Vatican Apostolic Library is now available on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/qFpVFbd7PSk

For this month’s Council’s Choice, Alessandro Bianchi has chosen AGORHA, a suite of thematic databases bringing together digitised documents, archival sources, and biographical records relating to individuals, collections, and institutions in France: bibsoc.org.uk/councils-cho...

@sharpnews.bsky.social @bibsoc.bsky.social This important work about the British Museum Library is now available open access here - doi.org/10.23636/t2s...

Bursaries for London Rare Book School courses including this one are available thanks to @bibsoc.bsky.social! 📖

On Friday 13 March, an in-person training day in digital methods for bibliographical study has been arranged by the Institute of English Studies and the Bibliographical Society, in association with the John Rylands Research Institute at the University of Manchester who will host the event.

On Tuesday 3 March 2026, at 15.30 GMT, the Bibliographical Society will travel virtually to the Vatican Apostolic Library. Founded in 1450 by Pope Nicholas V to promote Humanistic studies, the Vatican Library is one of the world’s most famous libraries.

The fourth meeting of our 2025/2026 season will take place on Tuesday 17 February 2026 at 5.30 p.m., at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, and online via Zoom.

Our friends at Cambridge University Library are hosting the AI for Cultural Heritage Hub on 20 March.

For this month's Council's Choice, Joseph Hone highlights the Catalog of Distinctive Type (1660-1700): bibsoc.org.uk/councils-cho...

Our friends at UCL are hosting an event examining how archives, libraries, and museums underpin a functioning democracy: www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

We are pleased to share that The Library, @bibsoc.bsky.social, will be published by Liverpool University Press from 2026! ➡️ Find out more over on the LUP blog: bit.ly/TheLibrary-LUP @ciliprarebooks.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org @thewphp.bsky.social @davidshaw41.bsky.social

And bursaries are available thanks to @bibsoc.bsky.social ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...

Please join us for a joint event with the Institute of English Studies on 3 February: ‘Shelf Improvement: How to Collect and Present a Prize-Worthy Book Collection’. What makes a good collection, how to craft a winning entry, and how to avoid potential pitfalls.

We are having technological troubles with internet at the Society of Antiquaries and tonight’s lecture will likely not be broadcast online. Our speaker will be recording his talk at a later date.

The third meeting of the 2025/2026 season will take place on Tuesday 20 January 2026, at 5.30 p.m., at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, and online via Zoom.

Now online @bibsoc.bsky.social a gallop through my research on the incunabula & early printed books of John Bellingham Inglis (1780-1870): rare books collector, savant, scholar, slave owner. I emphasise attention to the social circumstances routinely elided in #bookhistory youtu.be/JdXfbqTvsKI?...

For those who were unable to attend, the last Bib Soc lecture is now available online: JOSEPH HONE, Thomas J Wise's Book Hospital, A Further Study in Theft & Sophistication www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8kx...

Happy New Year! For this month’s Council’s Choice, Julia King highlights the Medieval Libraries of Great Britain database, which aims to list every manuscript and printed book associated with an institutional library during the Middle Ages: bibsoc.org.uk/councils-cho...

The Society’s second meeting of the 2025/2026 season will take place on Tuesday, 16 December 2025, at 5.30 p.m., at the Society of Antiquaries, London, and online via Zoom. Dr Joseph Hone will speak on ‘T. J. Wise’s Book Hospital: A Further Study in Theft and Sophistication’.

You don’t have to be at the Book Trade History Conference to join the @bibsoc.bsky.social

We are delighted to announce a virtual winter lectures for exhibition 'A body of knowledge' is open to book 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/event/body-k... 🗓️ 6pm GMT, 9 Dec, £5 😍 Featuring a virtual exhibition tour & fascinating lectures from @awickenden.bsky.social & @samuscript.bsky.social! #LibraryHistory

The Society’s gold medal was presented last night to Dr David Shaw, past President, in recognition of his distinguished services to bibliography, including in the Cathedral Libraries Catalogue and his many publications on French and English printing.

Great to hear about some of the ongoing research funded by @bibsoc.bsky.social ! #BookSky

The Society’s first meeting of the 2025/2026 season will take place on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, at 5.30 p.m., at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, and online via Zoom.

Every year, The Bibliographical Society awards a number of major grants to those engaged in bibliographical research with primary focus on the physical object as historical evidence.

Excited to have been elected Hon. Secretary of @bibsoc.bsky.social, doing good work to promote bookish research since 1892. Daunted to be following in the footsteps of the great A. W. Pollard (pictured in 1928), R. B. McKerrow & Mirjam Foot among others, but looking forward to new things!

For this month's Council's Choice, Alexandra Franklin highlights Bodleian Broadside Ballads. Cyber-security concerns prompted the temporary closure of this resource in November 2024. Now all of the more than 35,000 records have returned to public view: bibsoc.org.uk/councils-cho...

As part of the Fredson Bowers award from @bibsoc.bsky.social (🙏) I’ll be giving a short talk on ‘The reassembly, analysis and appraisal of John Bellingham Inglis (1780-1870): #rarebooks collector; savant; scholar; slave owner’ November 18th, 5-7pm. In person / online bibsoc.org.uk/event/panel-...

We are thankful for the tour in the newly renovated Warburg Library @warburginstitute.bsky.social with its chief librarian, Giles Mandelbrote, before the 25 AGM of the Bibliographical Society @bibsoc.bsky.social.

The 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 bibsoc.org.uk/ancient-gree...

For work with a bibliographical/book history angle, there a number of grants (small and larger) from the @bibsoc.bsky.social: bibsoc.org.uk/fellowships/

Deadline extended! You have until Monday October 20th to put in an abstract! #queerbibliography #transbookhistory @bibsoc.bsky.social @bibsocamer.bsky.social @obs1922.bsky.social @transbookhistory.bsky.social @thetransfemininereview.com @sharpnews.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org

We're delighted to announce that two new members have been elected to our Outreach sub-committee: Sam Brown and Annabelle Hondier. bibsoc.org.uk/new-voices-o...

Our next Bibliographical Skills Workshop is taking place at the University of Stirling, on 28 October 2025: ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Our friends at the British Library have asked us to share details of this year's Panizzi Lectures: events.bl.uk/events/books...

Our friends at Middle Temple Library have asked us to share details of this Molyneux Globes Study Day: www.ticketsource.co.uk/middle-templ...

For this month's Council's Choice, our Past President, Margaret Ford, highlights the Shakespeare Census, which provides a current census of copies of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Folios plus quarto editions up to 1700: bibsoc.org.uk/councils-cho...