Rare Book School

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Friends of RBS

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:

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.

Join the Friends of Rare Book School

The application for membership (PDF) in the Friends of Rare Book School is available online.

Please note that viewing the file(s) above requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free at Adobe's web site. If you are not sure whether or not you need this program, try clicking the link; if the expected file does not appear, click on the image below and follow the instructions on the resulting page.

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

Rare Book School
114 Alderman Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400103
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4103

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

Bequests

To leave money or property to Rare Book School using a specific bequest, you and your advisor(s) may find the following sample language helpful:

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).