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38-666: The Wiltshire Record Society is a text publication society in Wiltshire, England, which edits and publishes historic documents concerned with the history of Wiltshire . In 1937, Ralph Pugh was the chief mover in a proposal to found the records branch of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society . The Records Branch was established in 1939, and in 1967 it became the Wiltshire Record Society, an independent organisation. However,

76-586: A trial of the facts had reached the verdict that Chesshyre had committed child sexual abuse offences, leading to a recommendation from the Honours Committee that he be stripped of honours. The council issued a statement saying that it "regrets that a majority of those present [at the vote] did not see fit to support the resolution" and that the incident showed "need to modernise the society's statutes and governance procedures". In 2020, following comments made by David Starkey on slavery and genocide,

114-480: 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. Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London ( SAL )

152-493: 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 a broader range of activities, and in certain cases – for example,

190-718: A vehicle for open access research papers of a length falling above the upper limit of c. 10,000 words for the Antiquaries Journal . In 1843 the society took the decision to publish some of its proceedings in a second periodical in a smaller format, initially unillustrated, which could appear on a more frequent basis than Archaeologia : it was entitled Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London . The first part appeared in 1844 (containing papers delivered in 1843), and this first series continued until 1859, by which time four volumes had appeared. A second series

228-492: Is "Antiquarian". The engraving of the plate, measuring 4 ft 1 in (1.24 m) by 2 ft 3 in (0.69 m), required two years to complete. The standard printing for this series was 400 prints; the plates were carefully stored by the society and used occasionally to fulfil later requests; only three of the seven plates still exist. The society's first journal was Archaeologia (full title: Archaeologia; or, Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity ), of which

266-612: Is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a registered charity . It is based at Burlington House in Piccadilly , a building owned by the UK government . The modern membership of around 3,300 fellows mostly consists of archaeologists and historians, who can use the post-nominal letters FSA after their names. Fellows of

304-526: Is held in Wiltshire once a year, usually in June. Since 1939, the Society and its predecessor the Records Branch have produced roughly one volume per year, the list of publications being as follows: Text publication society Members of 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

342-751: 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 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

380-533: The College of Antiquaries , was founded c.  1586 and functioned largely as a debating society until it was forbidden to do so by King James I in 1614. The first informal meeting of the modern Society of Antiquaries occurred at the Bear Tavern on The Strand on 5 December 1707. This early group, conceived by John Talman , John Bagford , and Humfrey Wanley , sought a charter from Queen Anne for

418-575: The London Blitz , the society organised many of the excavations of Roman and medieval ruins exposed by the bombing of the City , with annual surveys performed every year between 1946 and 1962. Among other finds, they discovered the previously unknown London citadel ( Latin : arx ) in the northwest corner of the London Wall . The findings were summarized in 1968 by W. F. Grimes . In 1962,

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456-803: 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 the 21st century, partly as a result of the growing quantity of historical research materials now available online, many societies have experienced

494-474: The inventory of all Henry VIII 's possessions at the time of his death. As the oldest archaeological library in the country, the Library holds an outstanding collection of British county histories , a fine collection of 18th- and 19th-century books on the antiquities of Britain and other countries and an exceptionally wide-ranging collection of periodical titles (British and foreign) with runs dating back to

532-417: 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 the publication of a volume by securing multiple advance subscriptions from individuals interested in buying

570-714: 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) 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

608-444: 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 , 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

646-474: 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 is most commonly found in the United Kingdom , but has also been adopted in other countries. In

684-474: The early to mid-19th century. In 1718, the society began to publish a series of illustrated papers on ancient buildings, sites, and artefacts, mainly those of Britain and usually written by members of the society, under the title Vetusta Monumenta . The series continued to appear on an irregular basis until 1906. The papers were published in a folio format, and were notable for the inclusion of finely engraved views and reproductions of artefacts. An engraver

722-528: 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 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

760-519: 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 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

798-515: The first issues of these were mostly done by Basire. The first of these with a reproduction of a 16th-century oil painting of the historic scene at the Field of the Cloth of Gold . The paper for this series required a larger size than was available, the manufacturer James Whatman was instructed to create a sheet 31 in × 53 in (790 mm × 1,350 mm); the name given to this format

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836-494: The first volume appeared, in a quarto format, in 1770. The journal mainly contained papers that had been delivered at the society's meetings: in the early years these included many delivered in previous decades that had remained unpublished. Archaeologia continued to appear on a more or less regular basis until after the Second World War , but then became increasingly irregular, some of its ground having been taken by

874-416: The membership is then held; to be successful a candidate must receive two "yes" votes for every "no" vote. As of 2022, the society has a membership of around 3,300 fellows. In June 2022, the society introduced a lower tier of "affiliate membership", open to anyone on payment of an annual subscription. Benefits include access to and borrowing rights from the society's library. A precursor organisation,

912-463: The numbering of the volumes published has remained continuous, the last volume published by the Records Branch being number 21 and the first volume under the new regime being number 22. The books published by both have all been bound in pale blue cloth and have the same size and format. The work of the society is funded by the subscribing members, some of them being academic bodies and libraries, but most are private individuals. An annual general meeting

950-428: The parallel themes of the history of the society itself and changing interpretations of the material relics of the past over the three centuries of its existence; and the illustrated catalogue of the exhibition, which included fifteen shorter thematic essays by various expert contributors. The society faced controversy in 2019, when its council was unable to pass a resolution to eject fellow Hubert Chesshyre . In 2015,

988-488: 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 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,

1026-476: The revived society was William Stukeley . Those attending these early meetings examined objects, gave talks, and discussed theories of historical sites. Reports on the dilapidation of significant buildings were also produced. The society was also concerned with the topics of heraldry , genealogy , and historical documents. In 1751, a successful application for a charter of incorporation was sought by its long-serving vice president Joseph Ayloffe , which allowed

1064-479: 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 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

1102-536: The society announced that they were modernising their procedures for dealing with behaviour which runs contrary to their values. Starkey subsequently resigned his fellowship. The society's library is the major archaeological research library in the UK. Having acquired material since the early 18th century, the Library's present holdings number more than 100,000 books and around 800 currently received periodical titles. The catalogue include rare drawings and manuscripts, such as

1140-426: The society are elected by existing members of the society and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FSA after their names. The election procedure is selective and fellowship is regarded as recognition of significant achievement in the fields of archaeology, antiquities, history or heritage. A nomination must be made by an existing fellow and endorsed by between five and twelve other fellows. A secret ballot of

1178-545: The society became the owner of the house and land of Kelmscott Manor , the former home of William Morris . In 2007, the society celebrated its tercentennial year (recognising the first, less formal meetings) with an exhibition at the Royal Academy entitled Making History: Antiquaries in Britain 1707–2007 . The tercentenary was also marked by two substantial publications: a collection of seventeen scholarly essays on

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1216-595: The society to own property. The society began to gather large collections of manuscripts, paintings, and artefacts, housing such gifts and bequests while a proper institution for them did not exist. The acquisition of a large group of important paintings in 1828 preceded the establishment of the National Portrait Gallery by some 30 years. A gift of Thomas Kerrich , which included portraits of Edward IV , Mary Tudor , and two of Richard III , reveal anti-Tudor bias in their later portrayal. Following

1254-430: The society's other journals. Only two volumes were published in the 1980s (vols 107 and 108), and two in the 1990s (vols 109 and 110, published in 1991 and 1992 respectively). The society's tercentennial collection of essays of 2007 was technically published as vol. 111 of Archaeologia . No print volumes have been published since. In January 2023, Archaeologia was relaunched as an occasional digital journal, to serve as

1292-421: The society, Richard Gough (director 1771 to 1791), sought to expand and improve publication of the society's research, motivated by the steady dilapidation of examples of Gothic architecture . A later series of oversize issues was used to accommodate the format of some historical works, which the society had commissioned to be reproduced by Edward Edwards and Samuel Hieronymus Grimm in water-colour in 1771;

1330-470: The study of British antiquities; its projected ventures included a series of 35 books to be issued. The proposal for the society was to be advanced by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford , but his dismissal from government caused it to become idle. The formalisation of proceedings occurred in 1717, and the first minutes at the Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street , are dated 1 January 1718. The first secretary of

1368-436: Was employed by the society from its inception – the earliest were George Vertue , James Basire and successors – labouring to produce the copperplate used in the printing of the folio editions. The prints were often large and appealing, and were intended to satisfy popular demand for archæological subject matter; their quasi-scientific illustrations were often inset with multiple viewpoints of architectural details. A fellow of

1406-436: 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 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

1444-415: Was then begun, in which 32 volumes appeared down to 1920. In 1921 Proceedings was superseded by a new annual journal, the Antiquaries Journal . This continues to the present day, volume 101 having been published in 2021. Since the end of 2001, the society has published a fortnightly online newsletter called Salon (Society of Antiquaries Online Newsletter). The following have served as Presidents of

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