Caxton Club

The Caxton Club is a private social club and bibliophilic society founded in Chicago in 1895 to promote the book arts and the history of the book. To further its goals, the club holds monthly (September through June) dinner meetings and luncheons, sponsors bibliophile events (often in collaboration with the Newberry Library and with other regional institutions) and exhibitions, and publishes books, exhibition catalogs, and a monthly journal, The Caxtonian.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The Caxton Club is a member club of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies.[9]

Caxton Club

Formation	January 26, 1895[1]
Type	Social club
Purpose	To promote the book arts and the history of the book
Headquarters	60 W. Walton St., Chicago, Illinois
Location	Chicago, Illinois
President	Jackie Vossler[2]
Main organ	Council
Website	www.caxtonclub.org

History

The Caxton Club was founded in 1895 by a group of fifteen bibliophiles to support the publication of fine books in the style of the then-new Arts and Crafts Movement.[10] The club's name honors the fifteenth-century English printer William Caxton.[11]

The Caxton Club flourished until World War I, after which its membership declined. The club was revived, however, and began to hold regular monthly meetings. The club was exclusively for men until 1976 when the first women were elected to membership.[11]

The Club published a number of fine editions in partnership with the Lakeside Press of Chicago.[12]

The Club gives out scholarships and grants to students and researchers in the book arts.[13]

Notable members

• Gwendolyn Brooks – author, poet[11]
• Francis Fisher Browne – editor[14]
• Lee Pierce Butler – bibliographer, librarian, professor[15]
• Alexander Wilson Drake – artist, collector, critic[16]
• James Ellsworth – banker, industrialist[17]
• Charles Lang Freer – art collector, industrialist, philanthropist[18]
• Michael Gorman – librarian[19]
• Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden – book collector and scholar[20]

• Henry Eduard Legler – activist, librarian[21]
• Frank Orren Lowden – 25th Governor of Illinois, United States Representatives from Illinois, and candidate for the Republican presidential nominations in 1920 and 1928[22]
• William Mulliken – Olympic swimmer[23]
• Audrey Niffenegger – author and artist[24]
• Carl B. Roden – librarian[25]
• Ralph Fletcher Seymour – artist, author, publisher[26]
• Vincent Starrett – author and newspaperman[27]
• Robert Wedgeworth – librarian and executive[24]
• Frank Lloyd Wright – architect[28]

See also

• List of American gentlemen's clubs
• Books in the United States

References

1. "The Caxton Club". Chicago Daily Tribune. December 8, 1895.
2. "Officers". Caxton Club. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
3. "Meetings & Speakers Schedule". Caxton Club. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
4. "Bibliophile Events". Caxton Club. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
5. "Exhibitions". Caxton Club. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
6. Johnson, Dirk (February 20, 2011). "Book Lovers Fear Dim Future for Notes in the Margins". New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
7. "Publications". Caxton Club. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
8. "Caxtonian". Caxton Club. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
9. "Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies Member Clubs". Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
10. Gehl, Paul. "Book Arts". Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
11. "History". Caxton Club. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
12. Hutner, Martin (2004). A Century for the Century: Fine Printed Books from 1900 to 1999. Grolier Club. ISBN 9781567922202., p. XXXVII
13. http://caxtonclub.org/grants/
14. Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1908). Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 (PDF). Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company. p. 239. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
15. Richardson, John (February 2000). "Butler, Lee Pierce". American National Biography Online. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
16. Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1908). Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 (PDF). Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company. p. 530. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
17. Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1908). Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 (PDF). Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company. p. 579. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
18. Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1908). Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 (PDF). Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company. p. 669. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
19. Caxtonian XXI (6)
20. The Caxton Club Yearbook 1965 104, and Yearbook 1971 Supplement
21. The Caxton Club Year Book 1971 112
22. "Books We Finished XV: The Caxton Club Revels Auction, December 20, 2013" (PDF). Caxton Club. p. [16]. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
23. "Caxton Club Directory". Retrieved August 4, 2014.
24. "New Members Admitted During 2010–2011" (PDF). The Caxtonian. 19 (8): 5. August 2011.
25. The Caxton Club Yearbook 1971 115
26. Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1908). Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 (PDF). Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company. p. 1699. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
27. "Caxtonian Footnotes" (PDF). The Caxtonian. 22 (5): 12. May 2014.
28. Twombly, Robert (1979). Frank Lloyd Wright: His Life and His Architecture. New York: Wiley. p. 33. ISBN 0-471-85797-1.

Further reading

• Crowder, Courtney (December 16, 2013). "Chicago's Caxton Club Reaches out to a New Generation". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
• Piehl, Frank (1995). The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Chicago: Caxton Club. ISBN 0-940550-09-1.
• The Caxton Club (2018). Chicago By The Book. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

External links

• Official website
• Caxton Club Collection finding aid, University of Illinois at Chicago Special Collections and University Archives