RBS Receives Grant to Support Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography
Rare Book School has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. Building on the success of the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography, this new scholarly organization will identify and investigate matters of new, compelling cross-disciplinary interest in the areas of bibliography and book history. The Society will especially direct its energies toward addressing the interpretation of original textual artifacts in concert with emerging techniques and technologies for the analysis and transmission of texts.
Current RBS-Mellon Fellows will be invited to join the Society as Senior Fellows, who will be responsible for the governance of the Society, for the planning of the annual meeting and additional Society-sponsored programming, and for the recruitment and selection of new members. Each year, ten Junior Fellows will be selected to join the Society through an open application process: they will receive funding to attend an orientation as part of the Society’s annual meeting, to take two Rare Book School courses, and to host a public symposium at their home institution. Junior Fellows will also be invited to attend a bibliographical field school. After two years of membership in the Society, Junior Fellows in good standing will become Senior Fellows.
Early-career scholars and researchers from all fields are eligible to apply for membership in the Society of Fellows. Applications are especially encouraged from individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, individuals from under-resourced institutions, and individuals working on topics currently underrepresented in the fields of book history and bibliography. Applications will be available in early September and due on 1 November. To receive notification when applications have opened, please join the RBS mailing list.
Rare Book School would like to thank the members of the Society of Fellows planning committee for their essential contributions to the development of this project: Megan Cook (Assistant Professor of English, Colby College); Ryan Cordell (Assistant Professor of English, Northeastern University); Meghan Doherty (Director and Curator of the Doris Ullmann Galleries and Assistant Professor of Art History, Berea College); Stephanie Frampton (Associate Professor of Literature, MIT); Damian Fleming (Associate Professor, Department of English and Linguistics, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne); Simon Grote (Assistant Professor of History, Wellesley College); Sonia Hazard (Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Franklin & Marshall College); Joseph Howley (Associate Professor of Classics, Columbia University); Aaron Hyman (Assistant Professor of the History of Art, Johns Hopkins University); Dahlia Porter (Lecturer in English Literature and Material Culture, Glasgow University); Aaron Pratt (Pforzheimer Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin); and Juliet Sperling (Doctoral Candidate in the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania).
Read the full press release.