The Caxton Club brings together archivists, authors, binders, book artists, booksellers, collectors, conservators, designers, editors, librarians, printers, publishers, scholars, and others. Members from these diverse backgrounds form a community that shares a love of printed, handwritten, and digital books and related textual objects, such as pamphlets, broadsides, maps, and ephemera. The club provides a forum to learn about the arts, history, and technologies of these materials, as well as a space to share the joys of appreciating and collecting them.

Sarah M. Pritchard, President....... Lou Pitschmann, Vice-President...... Leslie J. Winter, Secretary....... Jeffrey Jahns, Treasurer.......
CAXTONIAN.ORG: A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ONLINE ARCHIVE OF THE FIRST 23 YEARS OF THE CAXTONIAN.
BOOK LAUNCH. DR. RONALD BAILEY, CLAUDETTE HUNT, CAXTONIAN DR. IRVIN HUNT, JACKIE VOSSLER, AND DR. DESIRÉE MCMILLION
GRANTS: 2019–20 grant recipients: Meha Rey, Yann Trividic, Sara Jensen, Kathie DeLamater, and Annabel Pinkney.
CHICAGO 101 AUTHORS: Each of the 101 titles is the focus of an essay by a leading scholar, writer, or bibliophile.
MELLON FELLOWS: Each year the club provides copies of Other People’s Books to Mellon Fellows at Rare Book School.

Caxton Members: Submit your item to our online exhibit, Caxtonians’ Collections.
Exhibit is open to all.




UPCOMING CAXTON PROGRAMS

Caxton Club programs run from September through June with a second Friday daytime program at Noon CT and a third Wednesday evening program at 6:30 PM CT. Please see detailed descriptions for available programs.

Virtual programs will consist of quality Zoom presentations with real-time Q&A features immediately following. All programs — virtual or in-person — require advance registration on the club’s website. This allows Zoom instructions to be sent before programs, and for planning for in-person programs where space is limited. As usual, we will record all programs and make them available for viewing in the Past Programs section of our website’s Members Only section.

Only registrants who miss a program or wish to view it again will be given the opportunity to request a link to a recording of the program.

  • Nora Davies on Crymes and Rhymes: The Broadside Ballad and the Celebrity Criminal

    • 09/13/2024
    • 12:00 PM
    • 9/13/2024 12:00 PM CT/1:00 PM ET. Zoom presentation is free and open to all. Preregistration required via website. ULCC live attendance – Zoom presentation and optional lunch ($35) following. Reservations required by 12PM CT 9/11/24. Seating limit is 24.

    September Midday Program



    What better way to spend Friday the 13th than in the company of printers, prevaricators, peddlers, and penny broadsides?

    In early modern London, where newspapers were a sevenpence luxury, broadsides were the affordable single-sheet news source for the masses. They specialized in singing the praises of criminals who could capture the public’s imagination through a bold prison break, a brazen break-in, a terrifying and deadly encounter, and a tearful repentance in the shadow of the gallows. The modern newsroom adage that if it bleeds it leads draws its inspiration from these tales … as did (and do) a host of novels and detective stories.

    Join us as Nora Davies recounts the story in a generously illustrated program. Nora will be coming to us from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. As a digital asset specialist Davies provides instruction on copyright, cataloging, image research, editing, and more. Worry not, Chicagoans, Nora’s Midwest bona fides include an English degree from nearby Beloit College and an MLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Cozy up to Zoom and be transported to the crowded, noisy streets of London. But don’t worry about pickpockets or cutpurses … we’ll keep your reservation safe!

    Live attendance and optional lunch

    View Zoom program on eighth floor, Steel Room, Union League Club. Presentation begins at 12:00 PM CT. Optional lunch immediately following in the fourth floor Rendezvous. $35 includes non-alcoholic beverage, a cup of soup, and your choice of sandwich, salad, or hot entree, tax, and tip.

    Zoom presentation is free and open to all.

    Zoom begins at 12:00PM CT/1:00 PM ET. Preregistration required via website.

    Please forward this notice to anyone who may find it of interest.

    Transportation to the Union League Club at 65 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago.

    The Union League Club is easily accessible through many public transportation methods. Additionally, the following options are available for those who wish to travel by cab or car.

    The Union League Club front desk offers a connection to cab service through Curb. The desk will call cabs for members and all guests while allowing riders to remain inside until the cab arrives. No curbside wait. Cabs will accept all payment forms, following the payment procedures you experience with a street-hailed cab.

    If you are traveling by car, the Union League Club offers valet parking for Caxton events at $35.00. You must register and prepay in advance through the Caxton Club. Valet parking options will now be included as an option with all event registrations.

    Spot Hero is an independent parking option, generally offering spots at the 318 S. Federal Street garage adjacent to the Union League Club. You may reserve and pay for a guaranteed parking spot through the Spot Hero app or website (spothero.com).

    Show details

  • Tonia Grafakos on Poison Books: Arsenic in Nineteenth-Century Green Bindings

    • 09/18/2024
    • 5:30 PM
    • 9/18/2024 5:30 PM In-person program at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago

    September Evening Program



    Tonia Grafakos is the Marie A. Quinlan Director of Preservation, Northwestern University Libraries.

    Portions of this program were underwritten by a bequest of the estate of Peggy Sullivan.

    Show details

MIDDAY PROGRAMS

EVENING PROGRAMS

OTHER PROGRAMS

  • No upcoming events

LATEST NEWS

Read the current CAXTONIAN



Read the current FABS Journal





211 South Clark Street,
PO Box 2329,
Chicago IL 60604-9997


Tel: +1 (312) 970-1294
info@caxtonclub.org