Bibliographical Society of Chicago

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) began as the Bibliographical Society of Chicago (BSC) in 1899 when a meeting was held to organize a "society with the object to further bibliographical research." (Yearbook of the Bibliographical Society of Chicago, 1900-1901). Early concerns of the society included bibliographical scholarship related to English works and the accessibility of rare books held in private collections. The BSC elected to produce a publication that contained scholarly work related to bibliography and also relayed the actions of the society and its meetings. In 1901, a meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) spurred the idea of the creation of a national bibliographical society. At the suggestion of the ALA, the BSC appointed a committee and began discussing the possibilities of a national organization. The following year, the BSC again held a meeting in connection with the ALA conference, and there concluded that the BSC would continue on as-is, but prepare for the eventuality of becoming a national organization. The BSC would maintain its efforts in order to show its credibility and, at the next meeting of the ALA, the committee would discuss the possibilities of the project. The proceedings of the committee were slow until, in June 1903, it was decided that the time for a national society had come. In 1903 and 1904 membership of the Bibliographical Society of America expanded and increased, and a meeting of the council in October of 1904 marked the true beginning of the BSA. In 1904-1905, the first volume of the Bibliographical Society of America Proceedings and Papers was published. In this volume the Constitution of the BSA was laid out and the object of the society was declared "to promote bibliographical research and to issue bibliographical publications."