Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior learned society dealing with the study of the book and its history in the United Kingdom. Largely owing to the efforts of Walter Arthur Copinger, who was supported by Richard Copley Christie, the Bibliographical Society was founded in London in 1892; Copinger was the Society's first president, and held the post for four years. His own work in the field, however, lacked accuracy. The Society holds a monthly lecture between October and May, usually on the third Tuesday of the month at the Society of Antiquaries of London, at Burlington House. The first fifty years of the Bibliographical Society were documented in the book The Bibliographical Society, 1892–1942: Studies in Retrospect. The Book Encompassed, a volume of essays marking the Society's centenary was published in 1992.

Objectives

The objectives of the Society are:

Library and archives

The Society's library was housed at Stationers' Hall in the City of London but moved to Senate House in January 2007. In 2017 it moved again to the Albert Sloman Library at the University of Essex. The Society's archive is housed at the Bodleian Library and may be used by scholars and members of the Society.

Publications

The Society has published a journal since 1893, originally entitled Transactions of the Bibliographical Society. In 1920 it took over publication of The Library (issued since 1889) and adopted that as the main title of the Transactions. (The Library was founded in 1889 by John Young Walker MacAlister. ) The different series of the Transactions and The Library are: The Library is a quarterly journal and is issued free to members who also receive a copy of all books published by the Society. In 1937, Harry Carter, Ellic Howe, Alfred F. Johnson, Stanley Morison and Graham Pollard started to produce a list of all known pre-1800 type specimens. The list was published in The Library in 1942. However, because of the war, many libraries at the European continent were no longer accessible.

Gold medal

The Society occasionally awards a gold medal for "distinguished services to bibliography to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of the subject and the furtherance of the Society's aims."