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27-466: The Anglo-Norman Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1937 by Professor Mildred K. Pope . The founding aim of the society was to promote the study of Anglo-Norman language and Anglo-Norman literature by facilitating the publication of reliable scholarly editions of a broad range of texts of literary, linguistic, historical and legal value and interest. Based in the United Kingdom,

54-682: A broader range of activities, and in certain cases – for example, the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society and the Kent Archaeological Society – continue to do so. In other cases, a new society has broken away from its parent archaeological society to become an independent body dedicated solely to text publication: examples include the Surrey Record Society and the Wiltshire Record Society . In

81-513: A less lavish binding) may be made available for sale to non-members. From 1839, the total number of copies for each publication, including members' copies, was limited to 100. Recently, the limit was raised to 342 copies: 42 for the club, 300 for the public. The Roxburghe Club is generally recognised as the first "book club" (that is, text publication society ), and was a model for many book societies that appeared later in Britain and Europe . In 2000

108-412: A prime mover in many of the early ventures. In the second half of the 19th century the government-sponsored Rolls Series took over some of the territory of the amateur societies, particularly in respect of the publication of chronicles . The productions of several of the early societies included literary texts, but by the end of the 19th century, the majority of societies were tending to focus instead on

135-675: Is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom . The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 days in May–July 1812. The auction was eagerly followed by bibliophiles , the high point being the sale on 17 June 1812 of the first dated edition of Boccaccio 's Decameron , printed by Christophorus Valdarfer at Venice in 1471, and sold to

162-407: Is most commonly found in the United Kingdom , but has also been adopted in other countries. In the 19th century, when many societies were founded, they were sometimes known as book clubs . They have also been termed printing clubs . Those that publish exclusively archival material are often known as record societies or records societies . The principle of subscription publishing – funding

189-655: The Marquis of Blandford for £2,260, the highest price ever given for a book at that time. (The Marquis already possessed a copy, but one that lacked 5 pages.) That evening, a group of eighteen collectors met at the St Albans Tavern, St Albans Street (later renamed Waterloo Place) for a dinner presided over by the 2nd Earl Spencer , and this is regarded as the origin of the Roxburghe Club. A toast drunk on that occasion has been repeated at every annual anniversary dinner since to

216-573: The "immortal memory of John Duke of Roxburghe, of Christopher Valdarfer, printer of the Boccaccio of 1471, of Gutenberg , Fust and Schoeffer , the inventors of the art of printing, of William Caxton , Father of the British press [and others; and] the prosperity of the Roxburghe Club and the Cause of Bibliomania all over the world". It was decided to make the dinner an annual event: further members were admitted

243-573: The 21st century, partly as a result of the growing quantity of historical research materials now available online, many societies have experienced a significant decline in membership numbers, and consequent difficulties in maintaining their traditional business model. Societies have responded to the challenge in various ways, including by selectively uploading some of their publications to the World Wide Web , while continuing to publish other materials in print. Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club

270-473: The Australian comedian Barry Humphries was elected a member. The President since 1998 has been Max Egremont . The Club rapidly became more than a mere social institution. Each member was (and remains) expected to sponsor the publication of a rare or curious volume. Other volumes are published by the Club collectively. Initially the volumes were editions of early blackletter printed texts (the first, in 1814,

297-709: The History of our forefathers under its different characters". The Chetham Society , founded in 1843, concerned itself in much the same way with the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire . From the 1880s onwards, many societies focused on a single county. A particularly energetic advocate was W. P. W. Phillimore , who was active in the foundation of the British Record Society , Scottish Record Society , Thoroton Society , Canterbury and York Society , and Irish Record Society. Several county archaeological and historical societies undertook text publication as just one among

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324-566: The Society draws individual and institutional members from across the world. The original series of publications launched by the Society was the Anglo-Norman Texts series, sometimes referred to as the Annual Texts series. The aim of this series was to produce an edition each year (or one volume of a multi-volume edition each year), yet while this rhythm has generally been maintained throughout

351-417: The Society's history, unforeseen circumstances have on occasion led to minor delays or gaps in this schedule. The series has featured editions by some of the most renowned Anglo-Norman specialists of their time, including Mildred Pope, M. Dominica Legge , Alexander Bell, Ronald C. Johnson, Anthony J. Holden, Brian Merrilees, Ian Short, Tony Hunt, and Delbert Russell. The Annual Texts series was complemented by

378-716: The case of the London Record Society and the Canterbury and York Society ; the Royal Historical Society, exceptionally, aims for two volumes per year). Others, however, publish on an irregular and occasional basis, as the completion of editorial work allows. Volumes are usually also made available for sale to non-members, but the price is invariably higher than that paid (either as the retail price or through subscriptions) by members, thereby establishing an incentive for interested parties to join. The model originated and

405-566: The dissemination of valuable historical texts as widely as possible. Nevertheless, their activities tended to appeal to the "monied and educated" classes: in 1838, 20% of the Camden Society 's members were clergymen, 9% held legal qualifications, and 36% were Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries . Success being dependent on fund-raising and the attraction of new members, the early societies often suffered from financial and organisational troubles. Controversy followed Frederick James Furnivall ,

432-483: The final section of her From Latin to Modern French, with Especial Consideration of Anglo-Norman (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1934; revised reprints 1952 and 1956). It is also in this series that Holden, Gregory, and Crouch's edition of the History of William Marshal appeared, an account of the life and adventures of the famous William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke . Text publication society Members of

459-436: The following year. The club was formed by Thomas Frognall Dibdin , author of the book Bibliomania; or Book-Madness (1809), who served as its first secretary; and the club was formalised under Earl Spencer's presidency. The Club has had a total of 350 members from its foundation to 2017. The circle has always been an exclusive one, with just one " black ball " (negative vote) being enough to exclude an applicant. Since 1839

486-525: The launch of two additional series in 1983. The first of these was the Plain Texts series, which has the goal of providing a critical text predominantly for shorter works, but without the more detailed introduction and notes provided in the Annual Texts series. The second series was the Occasional Publications series, which, as the name suggests, has been reserved for publications which fall outside

513-514: The number of members at any one time has been limited to forty. A photograph exists of the membership in 1892, including the Prime Minister Arthur Balfour and anthropologist Andrew Lang , as well as American poet James Russell Lowell , Alfred Henry Huth , and Simon Watson Taylor . James Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne , was then President. The first female member was Mary, Viscountess Eccles , elected in 1985. In 2011,

540-541: The principle that each member should sponsor the publication of an edition of a rare work of interest to members, and that other volumes would be published by the Club collectively. In both cases, the volumes were intended for distribution to the entire membership. The Club's first publication, donated by Sir William Bolland and issued in 1814, was the Earl of Surrey 's translation of parts of Virgil 's Aeneid , originally printed in 1557. One early Roxburghe Club member (from 1822)

567-473: The publication of archival records. This continued to be the pattern in the 20th century. The Durham-based Surtees Society , founded in 1834 and modelled in part on the Scottish Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, was the first English society to adopt a specifically regional remit, in its case the elucidation of the history of the area constituting the ancient kingdom of Northumbria . Its establishment

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594-461: The publication of a volume by securing multiple advance subscriptions from individuals interested in buying the final product – was first established in the 17th century, and routinely adopted during the 18th. The idea of extending the model to the membership of a society was initiated by the Roxburghe Club , founded in 1812 as a convivial association of bibliophiles , but which rapidly introduced

621-532: The remit of the other series. The first release in this series was a volume of essays compiled in memory of the Society's long-serving President, T. B. W. Reid . The series has also featured Ruth Dean's Anglo-Norman Literature: a Guide to Texts and Manuscripts , an indispensable successor to an earlier work with a similar remit by the Swedish scholar Johan Vising , and most recently Ian Short's Manual of Anglo-Norman , building on Pope's monumental study of Anglo-Norman in

648-474: The society (private individuals or institutions) pay an annual subscription , in return for which they either automatically receive a copy of each volume as it is published, or (as in the case of, for example, the Royal Historical Society ) are eligible to purchase volumes at favourable members' rates. Some societies attempt to keep to a regular cycle of publishing (generally one volume per year, as in

675-461: Was Sir Walter Scott , who was inspired by it to establish the Bannatyne Club to print works of interest for Scottish tradition, literature, and history. Other special-interest societies followed. In contrast to the exclusive Roxburghe Club (which had an elite membership and issued its publications as luxurious limited editions), most had broad membership criteria, and had as their primary objective

702-422: Was deeply rooted in local pride: in an early prospectus, James Raine (its principal founder and first secretary) drew attention to just a few unpublished manuscripts of Durham interest, "which, in these times, few individuals would incur the risk of printing at their own cost; but which nevertheless, afford even singly, how much more collectively, the most valuable materials to those who are anxious to study rightly

729-431: Was the Earl of Surrey 's translation of parts of Virgil 's Aeneid , originally printed in 1557); but from as early as 1819 they began to include texts taken from manuscript originals. The standards of scholarship are high, and the quality of printing, facsimile reproduction, and binding is lavish. Copies of each volume (in a fine binding) are presented to all members, and a limited number of extra copies (generally in

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