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For Book Collectors:
The No. 44 Society—Book Collecting Contest—Book Valuations
The No. 44 Society
In 2006, The Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Illinois established a book collectors’ club for acquisitive book lovers who have a book collection or would like to begin one.
Inspired by the fine collection of American wit and humor, including broad Twain holdings, at the University of Illinois, The No. 44 Society takes its name from the hero of Mark Twain's last novel, No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger, a fantastical, but little-known Twain story set in a 15th-century print shop. The only requirements for membership are to have read Twain’s novel* and to love books.
The club attracts a lively mixture of undergraduates, graduates, faculty members, and local and regional collectors. Members offer advice to beginning collectors, share tips and tidbits about dealers and collectors, and regale one another with tales of the chase. Members also make formal presentations on their collections.
In short, it is a convivial club for mysterious strangers united by a shared affliction called bibliophilia.
The No. 44 Society meets at 3:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Room 346 of the Main Library.
2008-2009 Schedule:
Wednesday, October 1. Screening of No. 44: The Mysterious Stranger.
Wednesday, November 5. Guy Fawkes Day! Jon Solomon, Robert D. Novak Chair of Western Civilization and Culture and affiliate of the Unit for Cinema Studies, will lecture on Lew Wallace's famous 1880 novel, Ben Hur. Composed but 60 miles away in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the novel was extraordinarily popular and was repeatedly adapted for stage and screen. Professor Solomon has made a close study of the novel's cultural imprint and will outline for us the work's iconic evolution.
Wednesday, December 3. No. 44 Society's Annual Holiday Party and Book Boasting.
Wednesday, January 7 (or January 14). No meeting presently scheduled (up for vote).
Wednesday, February 4. James Cornelius, Curator at the Lincoln Library, Springfield. Presentation on the Lincoln Collections.
Wednesday, March 4. Laura Larkin, Special Collections Conservator in the University Library. Laura will talk about her field and her experience as a professional conservator.
Wednesday, April 1. "Fakes, Forgeries and Fools of Book Collecting".
Number 44 Society members will be presenting short talks on famous (or rather, infamous) figures and events in the book collecting world, including Mark Hofmann, Thomas J. Wise, Konstantinus Simonides, and Edward Gorey piracies. Alan Steinberg, Bart Clark, Adam Doskey, and Valerie Hotchkiss will make 5-10 minute presentations on each of these scoundrels. We probably have room for two more tales of infamy if anyone wants to become an expert on Moses Shapira, the Ireland Shakespeare forgeries or other book fools.
Wednesday, May 6. The winners of the Thomas Baldwin and Harris Fletcher Book Collecting awards will be announced. Points of discussion will also include the 2009-2010 schedule of events and the possibility of hosting a Bloomsday celebration next month.
For more information on The No. 44 Society, please call 217.333.3777.
*In the definitive University of California edition based on the original manuscript; Mark Twain Library, 3.
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