• Kevin Mac Donnell on the History of Collecting Mark Twain

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club In connection with the public exhibition: A First-Class Fool: Mark Twain and Humor, from the collection of Susan Jaffe Tane, which runs in the ground-floor Exhibition Hall from January 15 – April 5, 2025, Kevin Mac Donnell will speak on the history of Mark Twain collecting, beginning in the 1880s down to the […]

  • Richard Kopley & Susan Jaffe Tane on Edgar Allan Poe

      Club member Richard Kopley, Distinguished Professor of English, Emeritus, at Penn State DuBois, and recipient of a Lifetime Achievement and Service Award from the Poe Studies Association, will be in conversation with Grolier Club Council member Susan Jaffe Tane, a preeminent collector of Poe's writings and artifacts, about his new critical biography, Edgar Allan Poe: […]

  • Collecting Shakespeare’s First Folio in America

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club This talk by David Alan Richards, Grolier Club member (and former Council member), will cover centuries of Shakespeare's First Folios arriving in America. The first made its way to Boston in 1791, and the first offered by an American book dealer was at Astor House on Broadway in 1847. By […]

  • Decoration of Hebrew Manuscripts after the Invention of Printing

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club Through an examination of Illustrated 18th century Hebrew manuscripts and decorated Scrolls of Esther we will explore the fascinating evolution of artistic Hebrew manuscript following the invention of the printing press. This lecture explores the fascinating evolution of decorated Hebrew manuscript following the invention of the printing press. Despite the […]

  • The Yiddish Sherlock Holmes, Newly Translated

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club The debut of a new English translation of Yiddish novels starring the fictional Viennese detective Max Spitzkopf. In early 1900s pulp fiction, the Viennese detective Max Spitzkopf was an undefeated foe of villains and passionate defender of the Jewish people. When he is summoned, no matter how dangerous or seemingly […]

  • 100 Objects From the Collections of the YIVO Institute

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club A celebration of a new book, 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. A pair of ruby red slippers. A medieval manuscript. A Yiddish folk medicine prescription. These and 97 other objects comprise a new centennial coffee-table-book, 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for […]

  • New Light on Medieval Manuscript Culture

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club A new look at medieval monastic manuscript culture. Andrew Jotischky, Professor of Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London, will speak about the manuscript culture at the heart of his recent book, The Monastic World: A 1,200-Year History (Yale University Press, 2024). His talk will be followed by a conversation with […]

  • A Black Bibliophile Tradition in Philadelphia

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club Jordan Ross will explore the collecting habits of African American bibliophiles in Philadelphia during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Bibliophiles and organizations examined will include William Still, Robert Purvis, Robert Adger, William Bolivar, and the American Negro Historical Society of Philadelphia. To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-lecture-a-black-bibliophile-tradition-in-philadelphia-tickets-1661331470149?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

  • Raffaella della Olga on her exhibition “Typescripts”

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club About this event Italian-born, Paris-based artist Raffaella della Olga will speak with Clark Art Institute curator and historian Robert Wiesenberger about her works on view in the exhibition "Typescripts" opening Nov. 22. Raffaella della Olga (b. 1967) uses modified typewriters and multicolor ink ribbons on various materials—including tracing paper, photo paper, […]

  • David Kraemer on Jews as Citizens of the World

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club Prof. David Kraemer will explore what the books produced by Jewish communities through the ages teach us about their experiences in various diasporas. Jews have lived in homes around the world from antiquity to the present. What do the books they produced and what they said in those books teach […]

  • New Discoveries About Winston Churchill’s Autobiography

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club Dr. Gary L. Stiles, collector and Grolier member, will discuss his latest book, A Prelude to Immortality: Winston Churchill’s ‘My Early Life' (Unicorn Publishing), which sheds light on why and how Churchill came to write an autobiography that has had global impact. The book has been continuously in print for more than […]

  • Fashions on Paper: The Words of Regency Dress

    Sponsored by The Grolier Club Dr. Hilary Davidson looks at the words of fashion in use during Austen’s adult life. This lecture is in conjunction with the "Paper Jane: 250 Years of Austen" exhibit at the Grolier Club. How did Jane Austen, her contemporaries, and their fashion media describe clothing, and what did they mean […]