News, Events, Publications, and Awards

News, Events, Publications, and Awards

News, Events, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

Previous article FreeSociety InformationNews, Programs, Publications, and AwardsFull TextPDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreNewsAnnouncing The Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy SocietyOrganized in 1904 and incorporated in 1927, the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is the oldest scholarly society in North America dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts as physical objects. Member gifts have played an important role in advancing BSA’s scholarly mission over the past century. Contributions and legacy gifts from BSA members have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote the study of books and manuscripts as textual artifacts and have furnished important financial support to early-career bibliographers and scholars.The Bibliographical Society of America has recently established a Legacy Society named after distinguished bibliographer Margaret Bingham Stillwell (1887–1984). BSA’s intent in founding the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society was to recognize the long tradition of giving at BSA and to ensure a vibrant future for tomorrow’s bibliographical scholars.In the fall of 2019 the Society called upon its members to join the Stillwell Legacy Society as founding members. The Council is humbled and so very proud of the outpouring of support received: more than twenty people stepped forward with promised gifts.Founding members of the Margaret B. Stillwell Society are:Anonymous (1)Martin AntonettiR. Dyke Benjamin in honor of Dr. Barbara A. ShailorJohn BidwellG. Scott ClemonsBruce & Mary CrawfordElizabeth Denlinger in honor of Erin SchreinerJoan M. FriedmanJohn Neal HooverWallace KirsopJennifer Lowe and Gregory PassAndrew and Eleanore Ramsey NadellJustin G. SchillerCaroline F. Schimmel in honor of Miss StillwellErin Schreiner in honor of Joan Cullen PalattellaBarbara A. Shailor in memory of Marjorie G. WynneDaniel J. SliveKenneth SoehnerWilliam P. StonemanDavid J. SupinoJacqueline M. VosslerThe Society celebrates the Stillwell Society’s Founding Members for their generosity, and hopes their leadership inspires others to join them in making a similar legacy gift to BSA. These unrestricted gifts fortify the long-term stability and financial security of BSA, and allow the Society to continue the intergenerational promotion of bibliographical study and the expansion of our scholarly community.Please let us know by letter or email that you have remembered the Bibliographical Society of America’s Stillwell Legacy Fund in your estate plan, and we will be honored to recognize you as a member of the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society. Your membership can be acknowledged in your name. You can also join the Stillwell Legacy Society in honor of—or in memory of—someone close to you. Should you wish, you may choose that your membership remain anonymous. There are no minimum financial requirements for joining—you may pledge any amount that inspires your philanthropy and brings you personal reward. All gifts help to further our mission.Members of the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society will be acknowledged in this journal and on the BSA website, with their permission. Legacy Society members will also be invited to our annual donor recognition event, held each year during Bibliography Week.For more information about the Stillwell Legacy Society and remembering BSA in your estate plan, please contact President Barbara A. Shailor ([email protected]) or Executive Director Erin Schreiner ([email protected]; 212-452-2710). Information is also available on the Support BSA page on the Society’s website (https://bibsocamer.org/support-bsa/). You may also write to the BSA post office box at PO Box 1537, Lenox Hill Station, New York, NY 10021.2021 Annual Meeting & New Scholars ProgramAt its 18 April 2020 meeting the Council voted to host a virtual meeting on 29 January 2021 instead of the traditional in-person gathering in New York City. The presentations in the 2021 New Scholars Program will also be held virtually. This decision reflects the Council’s view that the safety of all those who attend the Annual Meeting is of the highest importance. At this time, large gatherings remain dangerous due to the persistence of and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. The Society also recognizes that institutional funding for travel to the meeting may be limited, thus prohibiting travel to New York for 2021 Bibliography Week for many regular attendees. Without the ability to anticipate how that might change in an uncertain future, the Council and Executive Director share the view that holding a virtual meeting is the most prudent course of action.Describing the Material TextThanks to a collaborative effort by the Development Committee, the BSA has received a grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to fund an exciting new initiative, “Describing the Material Text.” The Society recognizes that today’s broad community of librarians, collectors, students, and booksellers needs opportunities for flexible and accessible, introductory level training in the description of textual artifacts from cuneiform tablets to zines. Through “Describing the Material Text”, we will address this need by:— developing training workshops and accompanying pedagogical resources;— building a small traveling teaching collection;— redesigning the BibSite section of our website as an open source repository, not just for bibliographical datasets, but also for pedagogical resources like syllabi, worksheets, and other materials for instructors.Originally planned as a one-year project, the COVID-19 pandemic will delay the first phase of the initiative, which involves holding workshop design seminars with leading experts in global material textual cultures. While some of these planning seminars may be held virtually, the resulting workshops will be designed around gathering together with textual artifacts in hand.The Society is grateful to the Delmas Foundation for their support of this important initiative and looks forward to making it a reality.New Membership Level for Latin American BibliographersAt the 18 April 2020 meeting of the Society’s Council, a proposal from the Membership Working Group to establish a new dues level for bibliographers from Latin America was approved. Dues for members of this group will be $50 per year. This option is available to bibliographers 36 and older living in Latin America. While the Society continues to conduct its business primarily in English, we hope to foster a more global bibliographic community and offer more Spanish-language programs and digital content that meet this group’s needs.BSA Subtitling and Translation ProjectThe Bibliographical Society of America is committed to improving access to audio-visual recordings of past events available on our YouTube Channel. As of Spring 2020, the Society is working to provide edited English language closed captioning and other language subtitles, with a particular focus on Spanish to reach audiences throughout the Americas.The Society needs English speakers to edit automated transcriptions, and speakers of other languages to translate them in YouTube. Free one-year memberships will be awarded to all who submit complete translations of edited English transcripts of individual videos. Active members in 2020 will be automatically renewed through December 2021. Only one free membership per individual; however, anyone having completed a second translation may specify another individual to receive a gift membership.For more information on this project, including step-by-step guides in English and Spanish, please visit the Virtual Events page on the BSA website (https://bibsocamer.org/programs/virtual-events/).❧EventsSociety Events (In-Person)In the spring of 2020, the Society and indeed the entire world made swift changes to its programs and protocols in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The following events, which in the spring of 2020 we hoped might still be held as scheduled, are now postponed or cancelled:¶ Touch to See: Disability and Bibliography, a workshop at the Wilson Library, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was not held on 10 June 2020.¶ The Rare Book and Manuscripts (RBMS) Conference and the Society’s sponsored session scheduled therein for 24 June 2020, “Active Learning for Paleography Instruction in Special Collections,” were cancelled. The session may be rescheduled for a future RBMS Conference.¶ The Feminist Bibliography Masterclass led by BSA member Sarah Werner and co-sponsored with the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP), the Institute for English Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and Maggs Bros. Ltd., was cancelled.¶ “The Long Lives of Early Printed Books,” led by BSA member Aaron T. Pratt, Pforzheimer Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Center and scheduled for 16–18 July 2020 has been postponed to 2021. This event is co-sponsored with the Harry Ransom Center and the Bibliographical Society (UK).Society Virtual EventsIn light of in-person event cancellations, the Program Committee and BSA Executive Director coordinated a series of free webinars and other virtual sessions offered to members and the general public. Most events are recorded and posted to the Society’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUetIQJTMlSn0Zubqa_C8ZQ/.The following virtual events (“webinars”) were held in March, April, May, and June of 2020 (in chronological order):¶ “Using the Archaeology of Reading in the On-line Classroom for Student Learning and Research,” led by Earle Havens, Jaap Geararts, Matthew Symonds, and Neil Weijer, was held 23 March 2020. Recordings of most events are available on YouTube.¶ “Ask the Archaeologists: Q&A on Using the Archaeology of Reading in the On-line Classroom for Student Learning and Research,” led by Earle Havens, Jaap Geararts, Matthew Symonds, and Neil Weijer, was held 25 March 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “Learn to Find and Use IIIF Content in the Mirador Digital Collections Viewer,” led by Benjamin Albritton, was held 26 March 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “Mirador as a Personal Research Tool,” led by Benjamin Albritton, was held 30 March 2020.¶ “Teaching with IIIF and Mirador,” led by Benjamin Albritton, was held 1 April 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “What is a Feminist Practice in Bibliography?,” led by Kate Ozment was held 17 April 2020.¶ “Placing Papers,” led by Amy Cheng, was held 18 May 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “Juvenile Marginalia and Other Things Children Leave in Books,” led by Karen Sánchez-Eppler, was held 27 May 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “Mise-en-Page in Medieval Manuscripts,” led by Elaine Treharne, was held 28 May 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “You! Can learn to Read English Secretary Hand at Home,” led by Heather Wolfe, was held 2 June 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “Awesome Table for Bibliographers,” led by Alexandra Wingate, was held 4 June 2020. Recording available on YouTube.¶ “Material Evidence in Incunabula (MEI) in the United States,” led by Cristina Dondi, was held 11 June 2020. Recording available on YouTube.Sessions will be scheduled through February 2021. Registration is required. A schedule of upcoming virtual events is available on the Virtual Events page on the BSA website (https://bibsocamer.org/programs/virtual-events/).The BSA Program Committee Calls for ProposalsIn accordance with our identity as an international, interdisciplinary scholarly organization that fosters the study of books and other textual artifacts in traditional and emerging formats, the Bibliographical Society of America pursues its mission by hosting public programs and collaborating with related organizations to do so. The Program Committee calls for proposals to invite collaborations between the Program Committee, BSA members, and a broader bibliographical public. The BSA aims to sponsor a calendar of varied programs each year, which can include but are not limited to lectures, workshops, conference sessions, and receptions following events which are bibliographical in nature.In all BSA events, the material text—that is, the handwritten, printed, or other textual artifact, broadly conceived—as historical evidence, and/or the theory and practice of descriptive, historical, textual, and/or critical bibliography, should be a central concern to participants and organizers.Proposals for events taking place between January and April of 2021 are due on 15 October 2020. Please visit the Program Committee page on the BSA website to review application guidelines and the application form (https://bibsocamer.org/programs/bsa-programs/).❧ProgramsNew Scholars ProgramThe Bibliographical Society of America each year invites three scholars in the early stages of their careers to present twenty-minute papers on their current, unpublished research in the field of bibliography as members of a panel at the annual meeting of the Society, which normally takes place in New York City in late January. Per the announcement above, the 2021 meeting will be held virtually, and this includes New Scholars’ presentations. The New Scholars Program seeks to promote the work of scholars who are new to the field of bibliography, broadly defined to include any research that deals with the creation, production, publication, distribution, reception, transmission, and subsequent history of textual artifacts (manuscript, print, or digital). Papers presented by the BSA New Scholars are submitted to the editor of the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (PBSA) for publication, subject to peer review, and are published in the December issue as part of the proceedings of the annual meeting. The 2020 BSA New Scholars are Dr. Alison Fraser (University at Buffalo, the State University of New York), Dr. Elisa Tersigni (The Folger Shakespeare Library), and Matthew Wills, (University of San Diego, California). Applications to the 2021 New Scholars Program are due on 8 September 2020. International applicants are welcome to apply. Please visit the New Scholars page on the BSA website for further information (https://bibsocamer.org/awards/new-scholars-program/).❧FellowshipsAnnual FellowshipsEvery year the Society offers a variety of fellowships in support of bibliographical inquiry and research in the history of the book trades and in publishing history:The Katharine Pantzer Senior Fellowship in Bibliography and the British Book Trades ($6,000) supports research in topics relating to book production and distribution in Britain during the hand-press period as well as studies of authorship, reading and collecting based on the examination of British books published in that period, with a special emphasis on descriptive bibliography. 2020 Winner: Kirk Melnikoff, “Bookselling in Early Modern England.”The BSA-ASECS Fellowship for Bibliographical Studies in the Eighteenth Century ($3,000). Recipients must be a member of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies at the time of the award. 2020 Winner: Sarah Bramao-Ramos, “Readers of Manchu Language Books.”The BSA-Harry Ransom Center Pforzheimer Fellowship in Bibliography (two awards at $3,000 each) supports the bibliographical study of early modern books and manuscripts, 1455–1700, held in the Ransom Center’s Pforzheimer Library and in related collections of early printed books and manuscripts, including the Pforzheimer Gutenberg Bible. 2020: No winner.The BSA-Mercantile Library Fellowship in North American Bibliography ($3,000) supports scholarship in North American bibliography, including studies in the North American book trade, production and distribution of North American books, North American book illustration and design, North American collecting and connoisseurship and North American bibliographical history in general. 2020 Winner: Allison Fagan, “Editorial Intimacies, Posthumous Publishing and Toni Morrison’s edition of Toni Cade Bambara’s Those Bones Are Not My Child.”The BSA-Pine Tree Foundation Fellowship in Culinary Bibliography ($3,000) supports the bibliographical study of printed and manuscript cookbooks (once commonly known as receipt books); medical recipe books that also contain culinary recipes; other types of books, manuscript, and printed material that include a substantial body of culinary recipes; treatises on and studies of gastronomy; or memoirs, diary accounts, or descriptions of food and cooking. Projects may cover any period or country. 2020 Winner: Andrea Gutierrez, “Bibliography of the First Print Cookbooks in Tamil.”The BSA-Pine Tree Foundation Fellowship in Hispanic Bibliography ($3,000) supports the bibliographical study of printed and manuscript items: 1) in the Spanish language produced during any period and in any country; or 2) in any language provided they were produced in Spain, or in its overseas dominions during the time of Spanish sovereignty; or 3) the bibliographical study of book and manuscript collections in Spain, or in its overseas dominions during the time of Spanish sovereignty; or 4) the bibliographical study of Spanish-language book and manuscript collections during any period and in any country. 2020 Winner: Daniela Samur Duque, “The Allure of Books: Bookstores and Printshops in Bogotá, 1850s–1920”The Charles J. Tanenbaum Fellowship in Cartographical Bibliography ($3000) supports projects dealing with all aspects of the history, presentation, printing, design, distribution and reception of cartographical documents from Renaissance times to the present, with a special emphasis on eighteenth-century cartography. Funded by the Pine Tree Foundation of New York. 2020 Winners: Jordana Dym and Carla Lois, “Bound Images: A History of Maps in Books.”The Katharine Pantzer Fellowship in the British Book Trades ($3,000) supports bibliographical inquiry as well as research in the history of the book trades and publishing history in Britain. 2020 Winner: Kate Nesbit, “Listening to Books: Reading Aloud and the Novel, 1800–1935.”The Reese Fellowship for American Bibliography and the History of the Book in the Americas ($3,000). The fellowship may be awarded to any scholar, whether academic or independent, whose project explores the history of print culture in the 2020 Winner: American and their Book School 2019 Winner: York ($3,000). The Society also offers a of fellowships bibliographical research as 2020 Winners: as “The in A of Translation by in Manuscripts of and of of the are at or can be by of the Fellowship Committee, Applications for the 2021 Fellowship Program are due 2 Bibliographical Society of America invites for its for Bibliography or on Early British or The for the 2021 is 15 October 2020, and will published after December The of the will receive a of and a membership in the for research on British was to honor at the Research Library at the University of was of the P. and Marjorie of British and and of the was and by at the Library, Alexandra The as an to scholars in bibliographical scholarship on eighteenth-century published in English or in any language but the British and its and for the may on any or printed in but should research of historical evidence, as the of the physical whether for a or the history of the production, distribution, or reading of scholarship may the form of a book or a or and or research in another as on a website or a scholarship must have been published a or during the year of the or the three calendar a has an it for but an of the period, it may be with a letter by the or editor to the of and must be by a letter from their to their having been further information on the and to learn how to the Society website at G. by G. a in books and past member of the BSA Council, the for Bibliographical on Books is to scholarship in the bibliography of historical brings a of $3,000 and a membership in the which must be in English, may on any book printed the year in any or any should research bibliography and history broadly and should focus on the physical book as historical for topics as the history of book production, publication, distribution, or Studies of the printing, and as these to books, are also scholarship may the form of a published book or a or that has been and or research in another as on a website or a for the will be in spring and will books, and published after December further information on the and to learn how to the Society’s website at Library by the Library at the University of this scholarship in the bibliography of American history and three the brings a of and a membership in the Society. The 2020 was at the Society’s Annual for the Library should on some of American history and culture in that now the United or on by American or for in that now the United should research in bibliography and history broadly and focus on the book physical as historical for topics as the history of book production, publication, distribution, or Studies of the printing, and as these to American history and are may the form of a published book or a or and or research in another as the or must have been published a or the year of the or the three calendar a has an it for but an of the period, it may be with a letter by the or editor to the of and must be by a letter from the their for the will be in spring and will books, and published after December further information on the Library including upcoming and how to the Society website at for for Society you have BSA historical material that may be for the BSA in in with BSA Executive Erin ([email protected]) to for your material to the Library, which is the for the BSA The BSA is in need of and BSA documents from the the of the BSA Working Dyke BSA Working for and A Bibliographical of Books and of American Printed from through its in by the State University for the Bibliographical Society of have and a to American At the has for collecting and and are to submit of and to information published in American and of not or not by and will be published in an as the Bibliographical Society of America’s submit all information and Special Collections Library, University of Box the in is now the United of America and printed, in the form of books or No printed on one or or (two is is that is, printed in the of or to a however, a is on the of a that work is All languages are as well as and is no on place of of the through State University A of edited by A Bibliographical of Books and of American Printed from Through M. The First A History and through The British Book A Bibliography in and The Library of and the American Collections of and and of Book Publishing in The of “The of in and in F. and A of & in New York Early at Studies in the with a to the an on the and by and The The of and on with a of a and and Evidence and A of and Book B. and International in English A Bibliographical History Bibliographical Society of A A Bibliography to A. A of New London, A. of of British Printed in other than English, to B. in B. The of the of to A of the for during the First of the with a of the Gutenberg A Bibliography of to Charles American Bibliography Incunabula in American A of Books in North American Collections and Bibliography of American through and to the of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United and and The Books of and and their by and G. A of Books to from to the and Bibliography of and of the of the at J. of Book for English from Bibliography of and of the of the at and to A Bibliography of the Early Printed of May, “Bibliography of Studies of Eighteenth-Century the and in May, on in Library and Collections May, Studies of Book and including May, Studies of and by or and Printed May, Studies of Book and Reading, May, Studies of in the Long Eighteenth May, Studies on Books Printed as and and May, of in the Long Eighteenth May, of & during the Long Eighteenth to article in 4 Book A of Printed in English with Free Previous article by The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 2020 for the Bibliographical Society of America 2020 Bibliographical Society of America. All no this

examines the politics of collecting, preserving, and reprinting colonial books and manuscripts in the nineteenth-century US. Colonial Revivals traces the labors of a cultural network of antiquarians, bibliophiles, amateur historians, and writers as they dug through the nation's attics and private libraries to assemble early American archives and to reprint, or "revive," their holdings. Reprinting old books, they thought, would shield them (and their ideas) from loss due to wear, fire, flood, or the overwhelming tide of oblivion. Their faith in print as an enduring vessel of preservation was, however, complicated by the state of decay in which they found many of their antiquarian treasures. The collections that this network built and the particular colonial stories they selected to tell and preserve reflect the inveterate regional, racial, doctrinal, and political fault lines in the American historical landscape. These materials are also our inheritance, as researchers of the book in America.

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

Minutes of the Annual Meeting: Friday, 29 January 2021, 4:30 pm EST, Virtual Presentation via Convene

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

By-Laws of the Bibliographical Society of America

Previous articleNext article FreeBy-Laws of the Bibliographical Society of America*PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreArticle I (Name)The name of this Society shall be Bibliographical Society of America.Article II (Objectives)The Society shall have perpetual existence, and the principal objects for which it is formed are to promote bibliographical research and to issue bibliographical publications.Article III (Meetings of the Members)1. Once in each calendar year an Annual Meeting of the members of the Society shall be held in New York, New York, on the Friday immediately following the fourth Thursday of January, or at such other place and time as may be called by the President of the Society on at least ten days’ notice to its members with the approval of at least four members of the Council. The Annual Meeting shall be held for the purpose of electing the Officers of the Society and other members of its Council, and for the transaction of any other appropriate business, whether or not notice thereof has been given.2. Special meetings of the members of the Society may be called by the President at any place and time on at least ten days’ notice with the approval of at least four members of the Council. The business of any such special meeting shall be limited to the subjects specified in the notice thereof.3. One hundred members of the Society in good standing shall constitute a quorum either for the Annual Meeting or for a special meeting of the Society. Unless otherwise required by these By-Laws or by law, any matters brought before the Annual Meeting or any special meeting may be decided by a majority vote of those members of the Society participating. In order to vote, an institution or other corporate body which is a member of the Society shall designate one individual in writing in advance to vote as its proxy at any meeting of the Society, but no other members may vote by proxy.Article IV (Authority of the Council)1. The Society shall be governed by a Council consisting of sixteen persons elected by the members of the Society as hereinafter provided, who together shall constitute its board of directors and its trustees. The Council shall have overall power to control the affairs and manage the funds of the Society, shall conduct its business and take general care of its interests, shall report to the Society from time to time on the major activities of the Council, shall possess all the powers and exercise all the functions of the Society as may be authorized by law, and may adopt such By-Laws for the Society as may be permitted by law and may, whenever it is deemed necessary, amend or repeal the same as provided hereinafter.2. Meetings of the Council may be called by the President, or by the Secretary at the direction of at least four members of the Council, on not less than ten days’ notice, at such place and time as may be directed in such notice.3. A majority of the members of the Council then in office shall constitute a quorum for all meetings of the Council. Unless otherwise required by these By-Laws or by law, any matters brought before the Council may be decided by a majority vote of those members of the Council participating. However, the adoption, amendment, or repeal by the Council of any of the By-Laws of the Society shall require the affirmative vote of at least two thirds of the members of the Council then in office following prior notice at least ten days in advance of the By-Laws which it is proposed to adopt, amend, or repeal.4. The powers of the Council may, when it is deemed necessary, be exercised without a meeting by a unanimous consent or vote taken by first class mail, hand delivery, facsimile, electronic mail, or telephone. Any one or more members of the Council or any committee thereof may participate in a meeting of the Council or such committee by means of a conference telephone or similar communications connection allowing all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other at the same time. Participation by such means shall be deemed to constitute presence in person at the meeting. The decisions, resolutions and written consents thereto by the members of the Council or of any committee shall be filed with records of the proceedings of the Council or of that committee.Article V (Election of the Council)1. The Council of the Society shall consist of three Classes of four members each, together with the four elected Officers of the Society, as hereinafter defined.2. Each year at the Annual Meeting of the Society four members of the Council, together constituting one of the three Classes thereof, shall be elected by the membership from among four or more nominees presented by a Nominating Committee or by prior written petition bearing signatures of not fewer than twenty-five members in good standing. The four members so elected as a Class of the Council shall each serve for a term of three years or until their respective successors shall have been duly elected and qualified, and they shall assume office immediately after the Annual Meeting. No person shall be eligible for election to a Class of the Council if he shall already have served as a member of any three of the Classes of the Council during all six of the consecutive years immediately preceding the Annual Meeting at which the election is being held, provided however, that neither service as an Officer of the Society, as hereinafter defined, nor prior service on the Council in years earlier than the immediately preceding six years shall bar any person from such election to a Class of the Council at that same Annual Meeting, and provided further that an Officer or Council member appointed to fill a vacancy for less than one year until the next Annual Meeting, as provided for below, shall not be barred from election to a Class of the Council at that same Annual Meeting.3. In addition, the four elected Officers of the Society shall also be members of the Council, each to serve for the duration of his tenure in his elected office. All sixteen members of the Council, including the four elected Officers, shall have an equal vote upon matters brought before the Council.4. A vacancy on the Council caused by the death, permanent incapacity, or resignation of a member may be filled by vote of the Council upon the recommendation of the President. Upon the death, permanent incapacity or resignation of the President, the Vice President shall succeed to the office of President, but the successor to any other office so vacated shall be designated by vote of the Council. An Officer or other Council member elected or appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting and until his successor is duly elected or appointed and qualified. However, if the Council deems it appropriate to do so in a particular case, any such vacancy other than the office of President may be left vacant until the next succeeding Annual Meeting of the Society, at which time a successor to fill such vacancy may be elected by the membership, for a period equal to the remainder of the unexpired term, from among one or more nominees presented by the Nominating Committee for that special purpose in the manner aforesaid.Article VI (Officers)1. The Officers of the Society shall be a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, all four of whom together shall be elected by the members of the Society at an Annual Meeting thereof from among four or more nominees presented by a Nominating Committee or by prior written petition bearing signatures of not fewer than twenty-five members in good standing. The four Officers so elected shall each serve for a term of two years or until their respective successors shall have been duly elected and qualified, and they shall assume their respective offices immediately after the Annual Meeting at which they were elected. No person shall be elected to the office of President, Vice President, or Secretary for more than two terms in succession, although he shall be eligible for election to a Class of the Council, as aforesaid, or to another office. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person may hold the office of Treasurer for more than two terms in succession and shall thereafter be eligible for election to a Class of the Council, as aforesaid, or to another office. No person may be both an Officer of the Society and a member of one of the three Classes of its Council at the same time, but a member of a Council Class may resign from such position in order to be eligible to stand for election by the membership to be an Officer of the Society, and vice versa.2. The Officers of the Society shall have the duties and perform the functions customarily assigned to such officers in similar organizations, with such others as may from time to time be prescribed by these By-Laws or by the Council.3. Without limiting the foregoing, the President, or in his absence the Vice President, shall report to each Annual Meeting upon the state of the Society and shall preside at its meetings and at those of the Council in accordance with accepted parliamentary procedures.4. The Secretary shall serve as the recording secretary of all meetings of the Society and of the Council, keeping a permanent record thereof and filing the same with the office of the Executive Director, who is hereinafter defined.5. The Treasurer shall oversee the accounts and financial affairs of the Society, its funds and monies, the investment of those funds and monies, the collection of its receivables, the payment of its just debts and the keeping of accurate financial records and books of account, all in accordance with standards and procedures established from time to time by the Council, or by the Finance Committee subject to the approval of the Council. Furthermore, the Treasurer shall render to the Annual Meeting of the Society an audited report of the assets and liabilities of the Society and of its interim income and disbursements and its financial condition. The Council may in its discretion require the Treasurer to post an appropriate surety bond for the faithful discharge of his duties.6. All contracts, agreements, and like instruments made as the legal acts of the Society shall be executed by an Officer of the Society or by such other member or members of the Council as authorized in writing by the Council.7. An Executive Director, who shall not be an Officer of the Society and shall neither be a member of its Council nor exercise the powers thereof, may together with aides and assistants be appointed by the Council for such term and upon such conditions as the Council may from time to time fix. At its discretion the Council may designate the Executive Director to be also an Assistant Treasurer of the Society, reporting in that capacity to the Treasurer. The Executive Director shall act as an executive and administrative manager of the Society, under the general direction of the Council, and shall conduct the correspondence of the Society, keep its files in order, and maintain its membership rolls. The Executive Director shall also dispatch bills, receive dues and forward them to the Treasurer, and afford the Treasurer periodic statements of the financial affairs of the Society. Following the adoption, amendment, or repeal of any of the By-Laws of the Society, the Executive Director shall cause notice thereof to be circulated to the members of the Society in some appropriate manner. The Executive Director may be called upon by the Officers and various committee chairmen to render such assistance as he is capable of providing. The Executive Director and any other aides and assistants shall receive the annual compensation and other benefits stipulated by vote of the Council.8. The Past President shall be the most recently retired President and shall chair the Nominating Committee. The Past President shall not be eligible to appear as a candidate on the President-elect election ballot. The Immediate Past President shall be a member, with the right to vote, of the Executive Committee for one year. In the event that the President cannot take the office of Immediate Past President, the most recent Immediate Past President shall serve another term.Article VII (Committees)1. At least two months before each Annual Meeting the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee consisting of three or more members of the Society, whose function it shall be to propose to the Annual Meeting a list of qualified candidates for membership on the Council, as well as to propose candidates to be Officers of the Society in those years when the terms of the previously elected Officers are to expire, and, when called upon to do so, to propose successor candidates to fill the remainder of the unexpired terms when vacancies shall have occurred. No person shall serve on the Nominating Committee two years in succession, and no current member of the Council or elected Officer of the Society other than one whose term is about to expire may serve on the Nominating Committee in any year, although the President shall advise and work with the Nominating Committee to the extent deemed appropriate.2. From time to time the President shall appoint an Executive Committee, a Publications Committee, a Finance Committee, an Audit Committee, a Development Committee, and such special committees as to him may seem advisable, with such functions as may be delegated to them by the Council in writing and under the general oversight of the Council. Each of the voting members of the Executive Committee, as well as the chairmen of the Finance and of the Publications Committees, must be an Officer or a member of the Council, but the Treasurer may not be chairman of the Finance or the Audit Committees. The President shall be a member ex officio of each committee but the Audit Committee.The President shall be a voting member ex-officio of the Finance, Fellowships, Development, and Programs Committees. The Vice President shall be a voting member ex-officio of the Development Committee. The Development Committee shall be chaired by either the President or the Vice President. The Treasurer shall be an ex-officio voting member of the Finance Committee. The Executive Director shall be an ex-officio voting member of the Finance Committee, Membership Working Group, and Archives Working Group. The Executive Director shall be an ex-officio non-voting member of the Executive, Fellowships, Publications, Programs, and Nominating Committees. The Editor of the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America shall be an ex-officio non-voting member of the Council and the Publications Committee. The Chair of the Audit Committee shall be an ex-officio voting member of the Council. All Officers and the Executive Director may join any committee or working group which aligns with their professional experience or expertise as non-voting members with the consent or at the discretion of the President.3. The authority of each committee shall derive from the Council, and each committee shall report at meetings of the Council. Unless otherwise specified in its appointment, the term of office of any committee shall be at the pleasure of the Council and not more than one year from the date of such appointment.4. No committee or chairman thereof shall have authority to contract debts on behalf of the Society without the prior written approval of the Council in each case, and the Council shall have power and authority to clarify, regulate or reverse acts and decisions of the committees whenever the best interests of the Society so warrant. Any chairman or member of a committee may be removed from such office and function, with or without cause, at any time by the Council.5. The Council and any of its committees may, from time to time, adopt statements of particular standards and procedures augmenting these By-Laws with regard to administrative, financial and policy issues affecting the Society, to the extent not inconsistent either with these By-Laws or with law.Article VIII (Indemnification)1. Any person made, or threatened to be made, a party to any action or proceeding, whether civil or criminal, by reason of the fact that he, his testator, or his intestate is or was an Officer, other member of the Council, or Executive Director of the Society, shall be indemnified by the Society to the full extent permitted by law against judgments, fines, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees, actually and necessarily incurred as a result of such action or proceeding or any appeal therein.2. Expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred in defending a civil or criminal action or proceeding may, to the full extent authorized by law, be paid by the Society in advance of the final disposition of such action or proceeding upon receipt of a written understanding by or on behalf of such Officer, member of the Council or Executive Director to repay promptly such amount as, and to the extent, the person receiving the advance is ultimately found not to be entitled to indemnification or, where indemnification is granted, to the extent the expenses so advanced by the Society exceed the indemnification to which he is entitled.3. The foregoing right of indemnification and advance of expenses shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which any person, his testator or his intestate may be entitled apart from this article, provided however, that no indemnification may be made to or on behalf of any Officer, member of the Council or Executive Director if a judgment or other final adjudication adverse to that person establishes that his acts were committed in bad faith or were the result of active and deliberate dishonesty and were material to the cause of action so adjudicated, or that he personally gained financial profit or other advantage to which he was not legally entitled. Nothing contained in this article shall affect any right of indemnification to which employees, aides and assistants of the Society may be entitled by contract or otherwise under law.Article IX (Membership)1. Annual membership dues shall be payable on January 1. From time to time the Council shall fix the amount of such dues applicable to basic or regular membership, to contributing membership, to sustaining membership, to life membership, and to institutional or corporate membership respectively, and may in its discretion establish categories of joint membership for married couples and of patron membership for special benefactors.2. Any person or institution approved by the Council may become a member upon the payment of the annual membership dues. Any noninstitutional member who shall have paid to the Society the fee designated for life membership shall be exempt from all future payment of dues. Members whose fees have been in arrears for more than one year shall be dropped from the rolls of the Society but may be reinstated by the Council upon the payment of back dues covering those years since their dismissal for which they have received the publications of the Society.3. 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.Article X (Dissolution)In the event of the dissolution of the Society, its property and other assets, including all of its rights in and to its own publications, shall not be distributed as would be prescribed by applicable law in the absence of this provision, but shall instead be distributed to an institution or institutions designated by the Council (or, failing such designation, by the court having jurisdiction over such dissolution) which has or have functions and objectives as closely related as possible to those of the Society as stated hereinabove.Article XI (Interpretation)These By-Laws shall be the constitution of the Society. Except to any extent otherwise required by law, the Society chooses the laws of the State of New York, wherein it is headquartered, to govern the interpretation hereof, and in respect to all questions of the construction hereof, the decision of the Council shall control and be deemed binding. Statements of particular standards and procedures adopted from time to time by the Council and by its committees augmenting these By-Laws with regard to administrative, financial and policy issues affecting the Society may, to the extent not inconsistent either with these By-Laws or with law, be deemed part of these By-Laws until duly amended or revoked. Captions on the articles hereof are provided only for convenience of reference. As used throughout these By-Laws, the term “chairman” and all pronouns shall be construed as gender-neutral.Notes*Adopted by the Council by unanimous consent dated October 12, 1981, effective as of that date; amended by the Council by unanimous consent on January 25, 1985; on January 23, 1998; on July 9, 2010; on November 15, 2011; on July 1, 2013; and on January 25, 2019. These By-Laws constitute the official constitution of the Society and supersede the Constitution and By-Laws which were printed in the Papers, Volume 34, Second Quarter 1940, at pages 92–4; as well as the subsequent printings in the Papers, Volume 73, Supplement to the First Quarter 1979, at page 3; in the Papers, Volume 76, First Quarter 1982, at pages 105–112; in the Papers, Volume 79, No. 2, 1985, at pages 265–72; in the List of Members & Annual Reports, 2009, at pages 56–60; and all other statements of the organization of the Society. Founded October 18, 1904, in St. Louis, the Society was incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia on March 15, 1927, and its Certificate of Incorporation was last amended on July 8, 1941. The present address of the Executive Director of the Society is Post Office Box 1537, Lenox Hill Station, New York, New York 10021. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America Volume 115, Number 4December 2021 Published for the Bibliographical Society of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/716673 Views: 718Total views on this site © 2021 Bibliographical Society of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.