The Friends of Rare Book School came into existence (as the Friends of the Book Arts Press -- the name changed in 2000) in 1976 in order to support the various activities of Rare Book School (RBS), a bibliographical institute located first at Columbia University and (since 1992) at the University of Virginia. The Friends of Rare Book School:

support Rare Book School (RBS) and RBS Master Classes, occasional institutes offering various five-day courses on bibliographical and bookish subjects;

enable the growth of the various Rare Book School teaching collections with gifts in both cash and kind;

provide funds for the ongoing Book Arts Press publication program. Among the titles available are G. Thomas Tanselle's celebrated seminar syllabi, Introduction to Bibliography (currently in its 18th revision) and Introduction to Textual Scholarship (17th revision); a series of videotapes on the history and practice of hand typefounding, bookbinding, and the like; and an ongoing series of lectures primarily on the history of the antiquarian book trade, the Sol. M. Malkin Lectures in Bibliography.

present an ongoing series of free public lectures on subjects of book-related interest. Over the years, speakers have included scholars such as Sue Allen, Paul Oskar Kristeller, D. F. McKenzie, and James Mosley; rare book and research library directors such as Ellen S. Dunlap, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Richard Landon, and Thomas Staley; distinguished rare book librarians such as John Bidwell, David McKitterick, Roger Stoddard, and Daniel Traister; persons involved in the book arts such as Timothy Barrett, Walter Hamady, Stan Nelson, and Claire Van Vliet; preservation administrators and conservators such as Paul Banks, Christopher Clarkson, Nicholas Pickwoad, and Michael Turner; antiquarian booksellers such as Bernard Breslauer, Kenneth Nebenzahl, Kenneth Rendell, and Bernard Rosenthal; and book collectors such as William P. Barlow, Jr, William H. Scheide, Charles Tanenbaum, and Jack Gumpert Wasserman.

There are more than 800 Friends. They include students everywhere of the history of books and printing who wish to support educational programs for antiquarian booksellers, archivists, bookbinders, collectors, conservators, curators, historians, librarians, printers, teachers, and other persons concerned with the history of the book, rare books, manuscripts, archives, special collections, preservation and conservation. Many of the Friends have professional positions in academic or research institutions; others are persons without professional bibliographical connections but simply with an interest in one or another aspect of the book arts. From their base at UVa, the Friends support the cause of education for rare books, manuscripts, archives, and special collections everywhere, whether in libraries, archives and other repositories, or elsewhere.

Friends (who give $50 or more annually) receive an occasional newsletter, describing the activities of the Friends and announcing forthcoming events. They also receive various publications of our publishing wing, the Book Arts Press, and the RBS Christmas card and the RBS valentine (they are not like most Christmas cards or valentines). Good and Very Good Friends (who give $100 or more, or $250 or more, annually) receive the above, plus additional publications as issued. Close Friends and Best Friends (who give $500 or more, or $1000 or more, annually) get invited to, and get, everything. All Friends receive the occasional Rare Book School Address Book, which contains a complete list of the Friends, by category. This compilation (the current edition is 242 pages) provides address information for the Friends, as well as for those who have attended RBS, 1983-2002 (2500 names); for lecturers who have spoken under RBS auspices (200 names); for members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (470 names); and for several hundred other bibliographical friends and acquaintances.

The application for membership in the Friends of Rare Book School is available online (requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader).

If you have difficulty downloading this file, you may write us for an application at:

Rare Book School

114 Alderman Library

University of Virginia

PO Box 400103

Charlottesville, VA 22904-4103

or fax us at 434-924-8824 or telephone us at 434-924-8851 or email us.

I hereby give, devise, and bequeath to the Book Arts Press (doing business as Rare Book School), an educational non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation located at 114 Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4103, for its general educational purposes, the sum of ____ Thousand Dollars ($0,000.00).

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