York was a busy place for old books in the 1980's. During that decade bookshops multiplied, the York Book Fair established itself as the leading fair outside London, York Antiquarian Booksellers got going, and in 1986 the York Bibliographical Society held its inaugural meeting.
York has a long association with the book through printing, bookselling and learned societies. The city was only the third place in England to have a printing press and both publishing and bookselling have always thrived in York. In the 17th century book shops clustered round the south door of the Minster as can be seen in Daniel King's print of 1656, and evidence of the old bookshops and printers can still be seen today with the Sign of the Bible, and the printers' devil in Stonegate, and the splendid figure piece of Minerva at the corner of Petergate and Minster Gates. The library at the Minster has a history going back almost a thousand years and is today the largest and most active cathedral library in the country. In the 18th century York, as a focus of fashionable life in the north of England, had a very lively publishing and bookselling scene, and boasted one of the earliest provincial newspapers in the country, The York Courant. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society had a national importance in the intellectual life of the 19th century, and was chosen for the first meeting of the British Association in 1831.
In 1965 when I first came to York there were three old bookshops: Thomas Godfrey's, Spelmans, and the Barbican. Of these, Godfrey's was the largest with its magnificent twenty-room premises in Stonegate and also the oldest established, having started in the last years of the 19th century. It issued regular catalogues and had been an early, if not founder, member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association in 1906. Spelmans was established in Micklegate just after World War Two in 1948, and the Barbican Bookshop in 1963, in the same year as the opening of the university. By the early 1980's there were a dozen businesses in York and ten bookshops. It was a sort of northern Hay-on-Wye or, as Samuel Johnson more poetically put it in another context, "a nest of singing birds"; and to promote this fact Colin Stillwell and others started the association of York Antiquarian Booksellers. It was claimed that there were half a million books to look at, and although this may have been an exaggeration it helped to put York firmly on the map as a book city.
In 1984 there was a York Festival Book Fair in the Assembly Rooms. This was supported by a programme of six lunchtime lectures on 'The Illustrated Book in England' held in the Huntington Room at the King's Manor. A book weekend was organised with dinners and events by the booksellers of York. Although the book weekend idea was not repeated it provided useful seed corn when thoughts of a bibliographical society were mooted two years later.
So the idea of a bibliographical society in York fell on fruitful ground. Nor should we forget that the presence of a thriving new university was also a crucial factor in ensuring the success of this fledgling enterprise.
An informal meeting was held on 10th June 1986 at the Black Swan Inn at Peasholme Green. Attending this were Bernard Barr, Tony Fothergill, Peter Goodchild, Nicholas Hawkes, Peter Inch, Peter Miller, Graham Parry, Christopher Ridgway, Michael Sessions, Colin Stillwell and Chris Weston, with apologies from David Alexander, Jacques Berthoud and Kenneth Monkman. It is interesting to note that all these people subsequently gave valuable service to the Society over the following twenty years and most are still active members.
The idea of the Society meeting in a handsome panelled room above a pub had good historical antecedents, and there was space for about fifty people seated, with ample opportunity for liquid refreshment downstairs. The landlord, Robert Atkinson, was most accommodating and we were not charged for the early meetings of the Society providing that beverage sales were at an acceptable level.
For the public meeting scheduled a month later, an elegant poster was devised inviting all who were interested to attend. Bernard Barr, the sub-librarian at York Minster Library, chaired the meeting and about forty people came along. It was rather a rambling occasion, if my memory serves, with lots of interjections and suggestions; but the enthusiasm was palpable and it was agreed to devise a programme for the Society and launch it that autumn.
The initial committee consisted of nine members with Chris Weston as Secretary and Peter Lee as Treasurer. The university was represented by Jacques Berthoud and Graham Parry from the English Department, and Lois Gordon from the Library. Janette Ray and myself represented the booksellers, Bernard Barr the Minster Library, and Michael Sessions the printers. It was a good mix and meant that a rounded range of interests in all aspects of the book was represented. It was our firm intention to be as broad-based as possible in our book appreciation and to avoid being linked with any particular group or institution, and the neutral territory of the Black Swan served us well for many years.
The initial three lectures were all from our own membership with Jan Janiurek being given the honour of the inaugural lecture, which he chose to deliver on 'Books and Bookselling in Oxford and York'. Jan was the recently retired manager of Godfrey's bookshop and an exotic figure in York. A tall distinguished-looking Pole with a war record and an experience of Oxford and life at Thornton's Bookshop, he possessed great charm, garnished with a volcanic temper. On our opening evening we were happily presented with the charm. Bernard Barr followed in November 1986 with a scholarly tribute to Francis Drake and his Eboracum to mark the 250th anniversary of its publication in 1736. Our Christmas talk was by that great stalwart of the Society Graham Parry who chose to share his enthusiasm for the gothic world of Edward Gorey.
And so the Society was successfully launched. Many of the early members have remained loyal and enthusiastic throughout the past twenty years. Many of the early committee members have served the Society time and again. Peter Lee has served as Treasurer throughout the whole period, but a special mention should be made of our Secretary, Chris Weston. He has chronicled the Society's doings from that first meeting at the Black Swan in 1986. The minutes of meetings, details of visits, letters to speakers, arrangements for dinners have all been scrupulously prepared and organised by him. It is fair to say that without his guiding hand there would be no York Bibliographical Society. So many thanks to you, Chris, for providing a structure to the Society, and for enabling us all to enjoy books and talks on books in our own various ways over these last twenty years. Let us hope that the Society continues to flourish.
This page was prepared by Peter M Lee, e-mail math16@york.ac.uk
Revised 24 November 2006