Caxton Club

{{Short description|Private social club and bibliophilic society}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox organization |name = Caxton Club |image = [[File:Caxton Club official brand.jpg|Caxton Club|100px]] |image_border = |image_size = |image_alt = |caption = |map = |map_size = |map_alt = |map_caption = |abbreviation = |formation = {{Start date and age|1895|01|26}}<ref>{{cite news |title=The Caxton Club |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |date=December 8, 1895}}</ref> |extinction = |type = Social club |status = |purpose = To promote the book arts and the history of the book |headquarters = 60 W. Walton St., Chicago, Illinois |location = Chicago, Illinois |region_served = |membership = |language = |leader_title = President |leader_name = [[Sarah M. Pritchard]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caxtonclub.org/Officers |title=Officers |publisher=Caxton Club |access-date=February 24, 2024}}</ref> |main_organ = [https://caxtonian.org/ Caxtonian] |parent_organization = |affiliations = |num_staff = |num_volunteers = |budget = |website = [http://www.caxtonclub.org www.caxtonclub.org] |remarks = }}

The '''Caxton Club''' is a [[gentlemen's club|private social club]] and [[Bibliophilia|bibliophilic]] society founded in [[Chicago]] in 1895 to promote the [[Artist's book|book arts]] and the [[history of the book]]. To further its goals, the club hosts monthly events, collaborates with institutions like the [[Newberry Library]], and publishes works including ''The Caxtonian.''<ref>Caxton Club. (2024). https://www.caxtonclub.org/. Retrieved April 24, 2024.</ref> The Caxton Club is a member club of the [[Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fabsbooks.org/MemberClubs.aspx |title=Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies Member Clubs |publisher=Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies |access-date=April 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720044953/http://fabsbooks.org/MemberClubs.aspx |archive-date=July 20, 2012 }}</ref>

==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]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Gehl |first=Paul |encyclopedia=Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago |title=Book Arts |url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/156.html |access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref> The club's name honors the fifteenth-century [[England|English]] [[Printer (publishing)|printer]] [[William Caxton]].<ref>Piehl, Frank (1995). ''The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago''. Caxton Club. p. xiii.</ref> The founders included [[John Vance Cheney]], [[Edward E. Ayer]], [[Martin A. Ryerson]], [[James Ellsworth (industrialist)|James Ellsworth]], [[Charles L. Hutchinson]], and Washington Irving Way and Chauncey L. Williams (of [[Way and Williams Publishers|Way & Williams]]).<ref>Piehl, Frank (1995). ''The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago''. Caxton Club. p. 14-15</ref>

In 1976, women began to be admitted as members of the Caxton Club, departing from the era's common [[gentlemen's club]]s practices.<ref>Piehl, Frank (1995). ''The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago''. Caxton Club. p. 87-88.</ref> Mary Beth Beal is notable for being the Caxton Club’s first female President in 1985-1986.<ref>Piehl, Frank (1995). ''The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago''. Caxton Club. p. 145.</ref>

In 1995 the Caxton Club centenary was celebrated with publication of ''The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago'' <ref>Piehl, Frank (1995). ''The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago''. Caxton Club.</ref> which has been characterized as a "significant addition to the history of American bibliophily."<ref>Holzenberg, Eric J. “The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago. Frank J. Piehl, Bruce McKittrick.” ''The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America'' 90, no. 3 (1996): 379–81.</ref>

The Club published several fine editions in partnership with the [[Lakeside Press#History|Lakeside Press]] of Chicago.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Hutner | first1 = Martin |year = 2004 |title = A Century for the Century: Fine Printed Books from 1900 to 1999 |publisher = Grolier Club|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=On2cttWtZ9AC |isbn = 9781567922202|ref = none}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=On2cttWtZ9AC&dq=Rockwell+Kent+Moby-dick+lakeside&pg=PR37 p. XXXVII]</ref>

The Club awards scholarships and grants to students and researchers in the [[Book illustration|book arts]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://caxtonclub.org/grants/|title = Caxton Club - Grants}}</ref>

==Notable members==  {{Col-begin}} {{Col-2}}

* [[Sidney E. Berger|Sydney E. Berger]]—educator, librarian, rare books expert *[[Thomas Kimball Brooker]] - book collector, businessman *[[Gwendolyn Brooks]] – author, poet *[[Francis Fisher Browne]] – editor<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Albert Nelson |editor1-last=Marquis |title=Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX0QOpl7iBQC |format=PDF |access-date=March 28, 2010 |year=1908 |publisher=A. N. Marquis & Company |location=Chicago |page=239}}</ref> *[[Lee Pierce Butler]] – bibliographer, librarian, professor<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anb.org/articles/09/09-01044.html |last=Richardson |first=John |title=Butler, Lee Pierce |work=American National Biography Online |date=February 2000 |access-date=March 29, 2010}}</ref> *[[Michèle V. Cloonan]] - librarian, professor *[[John Y. Cole]] - founding director of the [[Center for the Book]] at the [[Library of Congress]] *[[Charles Deering]] - businessman, art collector, philanthropist *[[Robert B. Downs]] - librarian, author<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/26/obituaries/robert-b-downs-87-librarian-and-author.html|title = Robert B. Downs, 87, Librarian and Author|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 26 February 1991}}</ref> *[[Alexander Wilson Drake]] – artist, collector, critic<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Albert Nelson |editor1-last=Marquis |title=Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX0QOpl7iBQC |format=PDF |access-date=March 28, 2010 |year=1908 |publisher=A. N. Marquis & Company |location=Chicago |page=530}}</ref> *[[James Ellsworth (industrialist)|James Ellsworth]] – banker, industrialist<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Albert Nelson |editor1-last=Marquis |title=Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX0QOpl7iBQC |format=PDF |access-date=March 28, 2010 |year=1908 |publisher=A. N. Marquis & Company |location=Chicago |page=579}}</ref> *[[Charles Lang Freer]] – art collector, industrialist, philanthropist<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Albert Nelson |editor1-last=Marquis |title=Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX0QOpl7iBQC |format=PDF |access-date=March 28, 2010 |year=1908 |publisher=A. N. Marquis & Company |location=Chicago |page=669}}</ref> *[[Herman H. Fussler]]-Librarian, Dean of the [[University of Chicago Graduate Library School]]<ref>Shera, Jesse H. “Herman Howe Fussler.” ''The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy'' 53, no. 3 (1983): 215–53.</ref> *[[Michael Gorman (librarian)|Michael Gorman]] – librarian *[[Frederic Goudy]] - printer, artist and type designer<ref name="Shaw on Goudy">{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|title=An appreciation of Frederic W. Goudy as a type designer|url=http://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2014/03/an-appreciation-of-frederic-w-goudy-as-a-type-designer/|access-date=July 12, 2015}}</ref> *[[Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden]] – book collector and scholar<ref>The Caxton Club Yearbook 1965 104, and Yearbook 1971 Supplement</ref> *[[Nancy Gwinn]] - director [[Smithsonian Libraries]]<ref>Schreyer, Alice."In Memoriam: Nancy Elizabeth Gwinn." ''The Caxtonian'' 32 (September/October 2024): 9.</ref> *[[Theodore Wesley Koch]] - librarian, translator<ref>Northwestern Libraries. (2018). ''Koch, Theodore Wesley, 1871-1941''. Northwestern University. https://findingaids.library.northwestern.edu/agents/people/2141. Retrieved April 24, 2024.</ref>

{{Col-2}} *[[Henry Eduard Legler]] – activist, librarian<ref>The Caxton Club Year Book 1971 112</ref> *[[Frank Orren Lowden]] – [[List of governors of Illinois|25th]] [[governor of Illinois]], [[United States House of Representatives|United States representative]] IL, candidate [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] presidential nominations [[1920 United States presidential election|1920]], [[1928 United States presidential election|1928]] *[[Beverly Lynch]] - librarian<ref name="illinois.edu">{{cite web|url=https://archives.library.illinois.edu/alaarchon/index.php?p=creators/creator&id=3958|title=Lynch, Beverly P. (1936-) - The American Library Association Archives|website=archives.library.illinois.edu}}</ref> *[[Bill Mulliken|William Mulliken]] – Olympic swimmer *[[Kenneth Nebenzahl]] - antiquarian book- and mapseller, author, supporter and benefactor of history of cartography.<ref>[https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/series/NLHC.html The Kenneth Nebenzahl Jr. Lectures in the History of Cartography.] University of Chicago Press.</ref> *[[Audrey Niffenegger]] – author and artist *[[Stanley Pargellis]] - Director of the Newberry Library, 1942 to 1962 *[[Lawrence Clark Powell]] -librarian *[[Sarah M. Pritchard]] – librarian <ref>[https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2021/10/dean-of-libraries-sarah-pritchard-to-retire/ Dean of Libraries Sarah Pritchard plans to retire in 2022 Longtime dean led transformation of library services] ''Northwestern Now'', October 13, 2021.</ref> *[[Carl B. Roden]] – librarian<ref>The Caxton Club Yearbook 1971 115</ref> *[[Ralph Fletcher Seymour]] – artist, author, publisher<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Albert Nelson |editor1-last=Marquis |title=Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States: 1908–1909 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX0QOpl7iBQC |format=PDF |access-date=March 28, 2010 |year=1908 |publisher=A. N. Marquis & Company |location=Chicago |page=1699}}</ref> *[[David Spadafora]] - historian, President, [[Newberry Library]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Steve |title=The Newberry Library set to undergo $11 million renovation |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-0615-newberry-makeover-20170614-story.html |accessdate=3 October 2018 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> *[[Vincent Starrett]] – author and newspaperman *[[Peggy Sullivan]] - library historian, librarian<ref name="honorary">{{cite web |title=Peggy Sullivan Named ALA Honorary Member in 2008. No. 7.4.2008. 110 |website=Librarian |url=http://librarian.lishost.org/?p=1114 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211151919/http://librarian.lishost.org/?p=1114 |archivedate=11 February 2012 }}</ref> *[[Robert Wedgeworth]] – librarian and executive *[[Frank Lloyd Wright]] – architect<ref>{{cite book |last=Twombly |first=Robert |title=Frank Lloyd Wright: His Life and His Architecture |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=1979 |page=33 |isbn=0-471-85797-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSA1HTTU-eMC}}</ref> {{Col-end}}

==Publications== In the course of its history, the Caxton Club has published formal publications and other printed pieces. These include ''The French Bookbinders of the Eighteenth Century,''<ref>Uzanne, Octave, and Mabel McIlvine. 1904. ''The French Bookbinders of the Eighteenth Century Chicago: The Caxton Club''.</ref> ''The Cowboy in American Literature by J. Frank Dobie,'' <ref>Owens, Harry J., and Caxton Club. 1952. ''The Cowboy in American Literature by J. Frank Dobie'' : Caxton Club, February 16, 1952. [Chicago, Illinois]: [Caxton Club]</ref> ''Tales for Bibliophiles.''<ref>Koch, Theodore Wesley, and Caxton Club. 1929. Tales for Bibliophiles. Chicago: The Caxton Club.</ref> and ''Imaginary Books and Libraries.''<ref>Spargo, John Webster, Bruce Rogers, Caxton Club, and Pforzheimer Bruce Rogers Collection (Library of Congress). 1952. ''Imaginary Books and Libraries: An Essay in Lighter Vein.'' Chicago: Caxton Club.</ref>

A complete listing of the publications is available here: [https://www.caxtonclub.org/publications club’s publications].

==See also== {{Portal|Chicago}} * [[List of American gentlemen's clubs]] * [[Books in the United States]]

==References== {{Reflist|33em}}

==Further reading== *{{cite news |first=Courtney |last=Crowder |title=Chicago's Caxton Club Reaches out to a New Generation |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=December 16, 2013 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/12/16/chicagos-caxton-club-reaches-out-to-a-new-generation/ |access-date=December 19, 2013}} *{{cite book |first=Frank |last=Piehl |title=The Caxton Club, 1895–1995: Celebrating a Century of the Book in Chicago |location=Chicago |publisher=Caxton Club |year=1995 |isbn=0-940550-09-1}} *{{cite book|author=The Caxton Club|title=Chicago By The Book|location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2018 |url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo28751879.html}}

==External links== *[http://www.caxtonclub.org/ Official website] *[http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/specialcoll/services/rjd/findingaids/Caxtonf.html Caxton Club Collection finding aid, University of Illinois at Chicago Special Collections and University Archives] *[https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/1267 Caxton Club records] at [[Newberry Library|The Newberry]]

[[Category:1895 establishments in Illinois]] [[Category:American bibliophiles]] [[Category:Clubs and societies in the United States]] [[Category:Culture of Chicago]] [[Category:Literary societies]] [[Category:Organizations established in 1895]] [[Category:Clubs in Chicago]] [[Category:Gentlemen's clubs in Illinois]]