Catalogue of an Exhibit of Books Interesting Through Their Associations

The Caxton Club

Chicago: The Caxton Club

1896

Bookplate of prominent Caxton Club member and exhibition contributor, George Merryweather (1846-1924).

The first exhibition in the United States, as far as I am aware, focusing on association copies. This is also notable as the second publication of the Caxton Club. The contributors to the exhibition are not named but Piehl in The Caxton Club 1895-1995, records, “In February 1896, an exhibition of ‘association books’ was held in the club rooms for members and invited guests. It featured books from the private collections of members George Armour, James W. Ellsworth, George Higginson, Alexander C. McClurg, George Merryweather, S. Clifford and George S. Payson, W. Irving Way, Chauncey L. Williams, and John H. Wrenn. They attracted enough attention to warrant a full three-column article in the Chicago Evening Post and to prompt a reviewer in The Book Buyer to comment that ‘the club . . . has every reason to feel gratified with the work accomplished during the past year, as well as with the future outlook.’ The catalogue for the exhibition was bound in half-vellum and issued as the Club’s second publication.” A choice association copy: Merryweather joined the Club in 1895 and served variously as President, Vice President, Librarian, a member of the Council, and on the Publications Committee. Piehl provides a biographical sketch.

Kurt Zimmerman