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21-602: The Harleian Society is a text publication society and registered charity founded in 1869 for the publication of manuscripts of the heraldic visitations of the counties of England and Wales, and other unpublished manuscripts relating to genealogy , armory , and heraldry in its widest sense. Since its inception, the Society has published more than 90 volumes of parish registers , 54 volumes of heraldic visitations, and 70 volumes drawn from other sources. The Society's publications are available by subscription . The Society

42-722: A broader range of activities, and in certain cases – for example, the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society and the Kent Archaeological Society – continue to do so. In other cases, a new society has broken away from its parent archaeological society to become an independent body dedicated solely to text publication: examples include the Surrey Record Society and the Wiltshire Record Society . In

63-412: A prime mover in many of the early ventures. In the second half of the 19th century the government-sponsored Rolls Series took over some of the territory of the amateur societies, particularly in respect of the publication of chronicles . The productions of several of the early societies included literary texts, but by the end of the 19th century, the majority of societies were tending to focus instead on

84-470: Is most commonly found in the United Kingdom , but has also been adopted in other countries. In the 19th century, when many societies were founded, they were sometimes known as book clubs . They have also been termed printing clubs . Those that publish exclusively archival material are often known as record societies or records societies . The principle of subscription publishing – funding

105-610: The Camden Fourth Series ; and the Camden Fifth Series , which began publication in 1993, had reached volume 67 by 2024, and remains in progress. The majority of volumes have contained book-length texts (occasionally running into multiple volumes), or thematic groups of shorter texts; but they have also from time to time – both in the two original Camden Society series and in the three RHS Camden Series – been made up of two or more disparate shorter texts, under

126-583: The 21st century, partly as a result of the growing quantity of historical research materials now available online, many societies have experienced a significant decline in membership numbers, and consequent difficulties in maintaining their traditional business model. Societies have responded to the challenge in various ways, including by selectively uploading some of their publications to the World Wide Web , while continuing to publish other materials in print. Camden Society The Camden Society

147-586: The Camden Society in 1838 was the initiative of Thomas Wright , John Gough Nichols , and John Bruce . It was modelled on the Surtees Society (founded in 1834 to publish materials relating to the history of northern England ), of which Nichols had been the first treasurer. Other founder members included Thomas Amyot , Thomas Crofton Croker , Sir Frederic Madden , John Payne Collier , and Rev. Joseph Hunter . Lord Francis Egerton served as

168-583: The Camden Society was experiencing financial problems, brought about in part by a project to create a general index to its first 100 volumes. On 2 May 1897 it was amalgamated with (or effectively absorbed into) the Royal Historical Society . The Society published some works jointly with the Early English Text Society . Between 1838 and 1872 the Society published 105 volumes in its first series (now sometimes known as

189-724: The History of our forefathers under its different characters". The Chetham Society , founded in 1843, concerned itself in much the same way with the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire . From the 1880s onwards, many societies focused on a single county. A particularly energetic advocate was W. P. W. Phillimore , who was active in the foundation of the British Record Society , Scottish Record Society , Thoroton Society , Canterbury and York Society , and Irish Record Society. Several county archaeological and historical societies undertook text publication as just one among

210-860: The Old Series); followed by a further 56 volumes in its second series (known as the New Series), which appeared between 1871 and 1896. Following the merger with the Royal Historical Society, the joint society issued another 6 volumes in the New Series, of which the last, volume 62, appeared in 1901. A fresh series was then begun, published under the Royal Historical Society imprint, but named the Camden Third Series , in which 94 volumes appeared between 1900 and 1963. A further 44 volumes were published between 1969 and 1993 in

231-664: The case of the London Record Society and the Canterbury and York Society ; the Royal Historical Society, exceptionally, aims for two volumes per year). Others, however, publish on an irregular and occasional basis, as the completion of editorial work allows. Volumes are usually also made available for sale to non-members, but the price is invariably higher than that paid (either as the retail price or through subscriptions) by members, thereby establishing an incentive for interested parties to join. The model originated and

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252-573: The dissemination of valuable historical texts as widely as possible. Nevertheless, their activities tended to appeal to the "monied and educated" classes: in 1838, 20% of the Camden Society 's members were clergymen, 9% held legal qualifications, and 36% were Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries . Success being dependent on fund-raising and the attraction of new members, the early societies often suffered from financial and organisational troubles. Controversy followed Frederick James Furnivall ,

273-463: The first President. For an annual subscription (originally £1 per year), members received the Society's publications, roughly two volumes per year. The original membership was 500. In 1838, 20% of members were clergymen, 9% held legal qualifications, and 36% were Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London . Membership reached a peak of 1250 in 1845, and began to decline thereafter. By the 1880s,

294-596: The principle that each member should sponsor the publication of an edition of a rare work of interest to members, and that other volumes would be published by the Club collectively. In both cases, the volumes were intended for distribution to the entire membership. The Club's first publication, donated by Sir William Bolland and issued in 1814, was the Earl of Surrey 's translation of parts of Virgil 's Aeneid , originally printed in 1557. One early Roxburghe Club member (from 1822)

315-481: The publication of archival records. This continued to be the pattern in the 20th century. The Durham-based Surtees Society , founded in 1834 and modelled in part on the Scottish Bannatyne and Maitland Clubs, was the first English society to adopt a specifically regional remit, in its case the elucidation of the history of the area constituting the ancient kingdom of Northumbria . Its establishment

336-468: The publication of a volume by securing multiple advance subscriptions from individuals interested in buying the final product – was first established in the 17th century, and routinely adopted during the 18th. The idea of extending the model to the membership of a society was initiated by the Roxburghe Club , founded in 1812 as a convivial association of bibliophiles , but which rapidly introduced

357-408: The society (private individuals or institutions) pay an annual subscription , in return for which they either automatically receive a copy of each volume as it is published, or (as in the case of, for example, the Royal Historical Society ) are eligible to purchase volumes at favourable members' rates. Some societies attempt to keep to a regular cycle of publishing (generally one volume per year, as in

378-468: Was Sir Walter Scott , who was inspired by it to establish the Bannatyne Club to print works of interest for Scottish tradition, literature, and history. Other special-interest societies followed. In contrast to the exclusive Roxburghe Club (which had an elite membership and issued its publications as luxurious limited editions), most had broad membership criteria, and had as their primary objective

399-528: Was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary and historian William Camden . In 1897 it merged with the Royal Historical Society , which continues to publish texts in what are now known as the Camden Series . The formation of

420-422: Was deeply rooted in local pride: in an early prospectus, James Raine (its principal founder and first secretary) drew attention to just a few unpublished manuscripts of Durham interest, "which, in these times, few individuals would incur the risk of printing at their own cost; but which nevertheless, afford even singly, how much more collectively, the most valuable materials to those who are anxious to study rightly

441-594: Was named after the Harleian Manuscripts , originally accumulated by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford , and his son Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford , and now held in the British Library , which include many copies of heraldic visitations. [REDACTED] Media related to Harleian Society at Wikimedia Commons This heraldry -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Text publication society Members of

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