Roxburghe Club - Publications

Publications

The Club rapidly became more than a merely social institution. Each member was (and remains) expected to sponsor the publication of a rare or curious volume. Other volumes are published by the Club collectively. Initially the volumes were editions of early blackletter printed texts (the first, in 1814, was the Earl of Surrey's translation of parts of Virgil's Aeneid, originally printed in 1557); but from as early as 1819 they began to include texts taken from manuscript originals. The standards of scholarship are high, and the quality of printing, facsimile reproduction, and binding lavish. Copies of each volume (in a fine binding) are presented to all members, and a limited number of extra copies (generally in a less lavish binding) may be made available for sale to non-members. From 1839, the number of extra copies was limited to no more than 100 copies, but the limit is now set at 300. The Roxburghe Club is generally recognised as the first "book club" (that is, text publication society), and was a model for many book societies that appeared later in Britain and Europe.