Saint Anne teaching the Virgin to read. Detail from Reed MS5 from the Reed Collection, Dunedin Public Libraries, New Zealand.

Your friendly newsletter editor has been reading Christopher de Hamel’s The Migrants: A Memoir with Manuscripts, the story of his early years in New Zealand and the genesis of his love for medieval manuscripts. This is a sensitive exploration of the intertwined journeys of people and books across oceans and through time. Along the way he discusses a manuscript copy of the Wycliffe Bible, an illustrated copy of Boethius’s De Musica which may have belonged to Thomas Becket, and the Fitzherbert Hours, which incorporates Marjorie Fitzherbert’s name into its text, personalizing the book and its prayers for this 15^th century reader. Irresistible!

Link for this edition of Joie du Livre:

https://www.fabsocieties.org/?na=view&id=67

Here is the news from FABS for May:

Members of FABS Societies are invited to a special in-person event: On Wednesday, May 13th, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library will host an intimate reception and poetry reading in partnership with the Amigos of the Library. The evening will feature poetic masterpieces drawn from the Society's remarkable collection and will coincide with the launch of the new Poetry Center — a milestone worthy of celebration by any friend of books and literature. To RSVP, please contact Oscar Castillo, Manager of Special Events, at castillo@hispanicsociety.org. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library is located at 3741 Broadway, between 155th and 156th Streets, New York, NY.

The Photography Special Interest Group of The Grolier Club announces its Spring 2026 newsletter, with listings of auctions, exhibitions and conferences.: https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/545452/emails/185404523390437077

May Blogging: If you didn't catch it last month, check out FABS Secretary and NOBS Trustee Paul Heyde's history of the Akron Antiquarian Book Fair, which is inextricably tied to NOBS (Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society). Congratulations to NOBS on a successful 40th Book Fair!

Submissions are open for the tenth year of the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize, a cash award of $1000 for an outstanding book collection built by a young woman. 

The Honey & Wax Prize is designed to encourage a new generation of collectors, and to expand our collective sense of what material merits attention and preservation. The contest is open to women book collectors in the United States, aged 30 or younger. The deadline for this year’s submissions is July 1, 2026. Please share with the young collectors in your life!

Looking ahead, a daylong symposium on Charles W. Chesnutt with sponsors including The Rowfant Club and Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society (NOBS) will take place on September 26 at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. 

FABS needs volunteers to ensure that this newsletter continues to reach you. If you're a member of a FABS society and want to help, please contact Jennifer: info@fabsocieties.org 

Does your club have news to share, or are you a club member with big news? Would you like to blog about your collection? Please contact Jennifer Larson at info@fabsocieties.org

FABS Member Society events for May. Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

May 4: A major exhibition at The Grolier Club on the Irish Literary Renaissance kicks off with this talk by award-winning Irish novelist and critic Colm Tóibín. (The Grolier Club)

May 4: The American Sunday paper of the 1890s transformed the daily edition with inserts and supplements of all shapes and sizes. Each asked readers to do more than read, but to interact with the materiality of the paper as a form of leisure. Join Sandra Gabriele and Paul Moore for a presentation for this media history of the Sunday paper. (Book Club of California)

May 6: "Picturing the News in Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Collection of Anthony J. Mourek" is the subject of a talk by Chelsea Foxwell and Brooklyn Zhao exploring woodblock prints of the Meiji Era (The Caxton Club)

May 6: If you enjoy Beat literature, you’re in for a treat with the events this month surrounding the new Jack Kerouac exhibition. Log on for this lively discussion with members of the NYPL’s Berg Library and Emory’s Rose Library, both of which hold plenty of Kerouac material. The fun continues in the evening with a symposium featuring Kerouac scholars and biographers. (The Grolier Club)

May 8: Adam Smyth on The Book-Makers: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives. From the aptly named Wynkyn de Worde to creators of Zines, Adam Smyth unspools the story of books by illuminating the lives of eighteen fascinating characters. (The Caxton Club)

May 11, 7:30pm Eastern: FABS Handpress Era Group. The FABS Handpress Era Zoom Group meets the second Monday of the month for presentations and discussion of printed materials before 1800. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of these online auction platforms for collectors of Handpress Era materials. If you use them, what are your search strategies? Have you ever regretted a purchase, and/or have you discovered a great bargain? Along the way, we hope you’ll show your items acquired on Ebay or Catawiki (5-minute limit, please). To receive a link contact Jennifer Larson at info@fabsocieties.org.

May 18: Larry McMurtry assembled a personal collection of books by and about women travelers. After 50 years the collection grew to almost 2000 volumes and contained 320 years of travel narratives, from 1690 to 2010. This is the story of the collection, what happened to it, and the women travelers who made it so captivating – women whom McMurtry occasionally referred to as his “runaways.” Presented by bookseller John Crichton of San Francisco (The Book Club of California)

May 21, 1:00pm Pacific. FABS Bindings Zoom Group: For a link contact Jennifer Larson, info@fabsocieties.org.

May 18: Celebration of the Irish Literary Renaissance continues with a reading by notable poets Paul Muldoon and Kevin Young, who will present works by leading poets of the Irish Renaissance as well as their own material. (The Grolier Club)

May 21, 7:30pm Eastern: Join the FABS 19^th Century group on Zoom for congenial discussion of all things bibliophilic and 19^th century. Contact Jennifer Larson at info@fabsocieties.org.

May 26: R. F. Foster, Belinda McKeon, Fintan O’Toole and James Pethica come together for a panel discussion on the exhibition Risings: The Irish Literary Renaissance and the Making of a Nation. (The Grolier Club)

May 26, 7:00pm Eastern: FABS Living With Books Group. Join this congenial group hosted by Reid Byers for conversation about the joys and challenges of home libraries. Contact Jennifer Larson at info@fabsocieties.org

May 27: Acclaimed biographer Carla Kaplan, author of Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford (HarperCollins), will explore the print and manuscript culture of Jessica Mitford (1917-1996) and her five sisters, members of a famous British literary family. (The Grolier Club)

May 28: Join NOBS and George Barnum, librarian and former Agency Historian at the Government Publishing Office (GPO). His presentation will focus on his 2017 book, Picturing the Big Shop: Photos of the U.S. Government Publishing Office, 1900-1980, a lovingly assembled selection of photos that tell the story of the world’s largest printing and publishing concern in its busiest and largest years. (NOBS)

Stay tuned to the FABS Calendar, as more events are sure to be posted soon.

Contact: Jennifer Larson, info@fabsocieties.org