The Club of Odd Volumes

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The Club of Odd Volumes
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77 Mt. Vernon Street
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General information
Location Beacon Hill
Address77 Mt. Vernon Street
Town or city Boston
CountryUnited States
Coordinates 42°21′30″N71°04′01″W / 42.358458°N 71.067054°W / 42.358458; -71.067054

The Club of Odd Volumes is a private social club and society of bibliophiles founded in 1887, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It exclusively admits men.

Contents

History

The club was founded on January 29, 1887, with the following intention:

The objects shall be to promote an interest in, and a love for whatever will tend to make literature attractive as given in the form of printed and illustrated volumes, to mutually assist in making researches and collections of first and rare editions, and to promote elegance in the production of Odd Volumes. [1]

The 1888 published constitution of the club states that:

Its objects shall be, the promotion of Literary and Artistic tastes, the Study of the Arts as applied to Booke-Making, the establishment and maintenance of a Reference Library, and Exhibits of a special or instructive character. [2]

The term odd is an eighteenth-century usage meaning various or unmatched. By extension, each member of the club is an odd volume.

The Sette of Odd Volumes, an English bibliophile dining-club founded in 1878, was the inspiration for the organization. [3] George Clulow, President of the Sette of Odd Volumes, London, suggested the name The Club of Odd Volumes. [4] [5] [nb 1]

The club began primarily as a dinner club, complementing established social clubs like the Somerset Club, Algonquin Club, Union Club, and Harvard Club. [7] [8] The group conducts lectures, meets regularly for dinners and lunches, collects and publishes books, and develops literary exhibits. [9]

The club hosts authors, book designers, artists, politicians, printers, and people prominent in creative fields. H. G. Wells visited after a monthly dinner meeting in 1906. In January 1921 Harry Houdini gave a talk on Books on Magic and the Theater. Author Amy Lowell and actress Ada Dwyer Russell were guests of the Club in 1923, when Lowell gave a talk on John Keats. Winston Churchill was a guest at the Club, at a private luncheon, April 1949. [10] [11]

The club is controversial in the bibliographical and bibliophilic community, as it is one of only two remaining major book collecting clubs in the United States that exclude women. Women are regularly invited to lecture on their areas of expertise to the club but they cannot join the club.

Building

The club has been at 77 Mt. Vernon Street in Beacon Hill since it purchased the building 1936. The building was the home of Sarah Wyman Whitman. Prior to 1936, it rented the buildings across the street at 50, 52 and 54 Mt. Vernon Street. [9]

Library and publications

Between its founding and 1900, the club expanded its membership and activities to include an active exhibition and publishing program as well as the maintenance of a library. Members in the Club of Odd Volumes, currently limited to a maximum of 87 (men only), are often associated with Boston's universities, museums and libraries. They often include rare and antiquarian book collectors, curators, scholars, printers and typophiles. The club continues to offer exhibitions on a wide variety of themes, including the printing arts, typography and antiquarian books.[ citation needed ]

The club has a substantial library of antiquarian books and an archive of letterpress printing.[ citation needed ]

The collection, only accessible by club members, has about 2,200 titles. [12]

Publications

Internal publications

Representative examples of the Club’s yearbooks and bylaws

Works of authors and poets

The following is a short selection of published works:

Notable members

Notable members include

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The archives of the Sette of Odd Volumes are now at Cambridge University Library. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Percival Merritt (1915). "The Club of Odd Volumes". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. The Society. pp. 21–22. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  2. ↑ The Constitution & By-Lawes of the Club of Odd Volumes, together with the names of its divers members & a Preface to the Loving readers. Cambridge: John Wilson. 1888. pp. 1–2.
  3. ↑ Pinault, Pierre-Louis. “Bernard Quaritch Ltd., Bibliophilic Clubs, and The Trade in Medieval Manuscripts ca. 1878–1939.” In The Pre-Modern Manuscript Trade and Its Consequences, ca. 1890–1945, edited by Laura Cleaver, Danielle Magnusson, Hannah Morcos, And Angéline Rais, 17–30. Arc Humanities Press, 2024.
  4. ↑ Percival Merritt (1915). "The Club of Odd Volumes". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. The Society. p. 23. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Volumes, Club of Odd (1922). Year Book.
  6. ↑ Sette of Odd Volumes. Cambridge University Library.
  7. ↑ Club of Odd Volumes (1915). Year Book. s.n. p. 53. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Percival Merritt (1915). "The Club of Odd Volumes". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. The Society. p. 25. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  9. 1 2 May Melvin Petronella (11 August 2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours. UPNE. p. 110. ISBN   978-1-55553-605-3 . Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Volumes, Club of Odd (1922). Year Book.
  11. ↑ "WINSTON CHURCHILL AND BOSTON". The International Churchill Society. 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  12. ↑ David H Stam (2001). International dictionary of library histories. Taylor & Francis. p. 27. ISBN   978-1-57958-244-9 . Retrieved 28 April 2013.
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