The Ticknor Society


The Ticknor Society is an organization of book collectors, booksellers, librarians, historians, archivists, conservators, printers, publishers, writers, and all lovers and readers of books. We are dedicated to the enjoyment, promotion, and support of books and book culture. George Ticknor used several bookplates throughout his life, including the small engraved one shown here bearing the motto, "Suum cuique," Latin for "To each his own."

Events

  • Visit to Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC)

    • 16 Oct 2026
    • 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    • 600 Federal St Ste 100-S, Andover, MA 01810

    Join Bexx Caswell-Olson, Ticknor member and Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) Director of Book Conservation, for a tour of the center on October 16 at 10:30 AM.

    Founded in 1973, NEDCC is the first independent conservation laboratory in the United States to focus on paper-based collections. Spots are limited, so please RSVP to ticknor.info@gmail.com by October 1.

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  • Convivial Biblios of Boston: October 2026

    • 29 Oct 2026
    • 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
    • Grafton Street Pub & Grill, 59 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA

    Convivial Biblios of Boston is a gathering on the final Thursday of each month.

    October 29, 2026: meet at Grafton Street Pub & Grill, 59 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA.

    Convivial Biblios provides an informal opportunity for Ticknors—active, lapsed, and potential—to get to know one another over drinks and snacks. These initial gatherings are hosted by Ticknor co-vice presidents Patrick Olson and Christine Jacobson. To suggest a location or offer to host a future meet-up, please get in touch with Patrick and Christine, or write ticknor.info@gmail.com.

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  • Collectors' Roundtable: Collecting Iconic Americana

    • 7 Nov 2026
    • 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
    • Hynes Convention Center, 900 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115

    Collectors' Roundtable: Collecting Iconic Americana: Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Jacobs, and Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free

    At the 48th Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair
    Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 12:30 pm
    Hynes Convention Center, 900 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115

    Featuring:

    • Thomas A. Horrocks, Independent Scholar; Editor-in-Chief, The Lincoln Herald
    • Jeanne Schinto, Independent Writer; Former Reporter, Maine Antique Digest
    • Beth Carroll-Horrocks, Special Collections & Archives Professional; Founding Member, Harriet Jacobs Legacy Committee
    • Kathy Alpert, Collector, Writer, Researcher, and Author of the new book, “Lost & Found: Historic Boston in Postcards.”

    Three collectors, three ways of building a life around a single obsession. Thomas A. Horrocks shows how a serious Lincoln collection can be built on a modest budget, drawing on decades of pursuit that inform his forthcoming Abraham Lincoln in 50 Objects. Beth Carroll-Horrocks traces her long effort to document abolitionist Harriet Jacobs across formats—publications, artwork, ephemera—as a founding member of the Harriet Jacobs Legacy Committee. And Jeanne Schinto turns to photography itself, presenting a collection of immigrant photo-books spanning Muybridge to Steichen to Robert Frank. Moderated by Kathy Alpert, this Ticknor Society Roundtable is a conversation about what it actually takes to build a meaningful collection—the persistence, the instinct, and the occasional stroke of luck—around three of American history's most enduring subjects.

    https://www.abaa.org/event/speakers-and-programming

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  • Curator's Tour of Fifty Shades of Modern exhibition

    • 12 Nov 2026
    • 4:00 PM
    • Houghton Library, Harvard University, Quincy Street & Harvard St, Cambridge, MA 02138

    Thursday, November 12, 2026, 4:00 PM: Curator's Tour of Fifty Shades of Modern exhibition at Houghton Library

    Curated by Leslie Morris, 50 Shades of Modern showcases just a few of the thousands of acquisitions Houghton’s Modern Books and Manuscripts Department has made over the past 20 years. Dating from 1800 to the present, these items show the continuities of institutional collecting; initiatives supporting new directions in teaching and research; and the generosity of the many donors who have helped make the collection what it is.

    RSVPs welcome, but not required.


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  • Convivial Biblios of Boston: November 2026

    • 19 Nov 2026
    • 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
    • Locke Bar & Restaurant, 6 Broad Canal Way, Cambridge, MA

    Convivial Biblios of Boston is a gathering on the final Thursday of each month. (But this month, we'll meet on the third Thursday to avoid the Thanksgiving Holiday)

    November 29, 2026: meet at Locke Bar & Restaurant, 6 Broad Canal Way, Cambridge, MA.

    Convivial Biblios provides an informal opportunity for Ticknors—active, lapsed, and potential—to get to know one another over drinks and snacks. These initial gatherings are hosted by Ticknor co-vice presidents Patrick Olson and Christine Jacobson. To suggest a location or offer to host a future meet-up, please get in touch with Patrick and Christine, or write ticknor.info@gmail.com.

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  • Curator's Tour of the exhibition Pressing Importance

    • 5 Dec 2026
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • 161 Essex Street, Salem MA 01970

    Saturday, December 5, 2026 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

    Curator's Tour of the exhibition Pressing Importance: Salem and the Declaration of Independence at the Peabody Essex Museum.

    Grounded in Salem’s connections to the Declaration of Independence, Pressing Importance shares two of the earliest broadside editions of the Declaration of Independence alongside Revolutionary-era manuscripts, newspapers, pamphlets and broadsides that showcase the nation’s founding values of democracy: freedom, liberty and equality.

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  • Visit to Brandeis's Goldfarb Library

    • 10 Dec 2026
    • 4:00 PM
    • Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453

    Thursday, December 10, 2026, 4:00 PM: Visit to Brandeis's Goldfarb Library to see its important Judaica collection

    Boasting more than 800,000 volumes, the Goldfarb Library at Brandeis University houses a growing collection in the sciences, creative arts, humanities, government documents, Judaica, and social sciences—including rare and unique collections.

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  • Convivial Biblios of Boston: December 2026

    • 17 Dec 2026
    • 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
    • Parker's Bar at the Omni Parker Hotel, 60 School Street, Boston, MA

    Convivial Biblios of Boston is a gathering on the final Thursday of each month. (But this month, we'll meet on the third Thursday to avoid the Christmas Holiday)

    December 17, 2026: meet at Parker's Bar at the Omni Parker Hotel, 60 School Street, Boston, MA.

    Convivial Biblios provides an informal opportunity for Ticknors—active, lapsed, and potential—to get to know one another over drinks and snacks. These initial gatherings are hosted by Ticknor co-vice presidents Patrick Olson and Christine Jacobson. To suggest a location or offer to host a future meet-up, please get in touch with Patrick and Christine, or write ticknor.info@gmail.com.

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  • The Ticknor Society's Collecting Prize Competition: Everything you Need to Know

    • 13 Jan 2027
    • 7:00 PM
    • Zoom

    Everything you Need to Know About Entering the Ticknor Society's Collecting Prize Competition.

    For more information and a list of past awardees, see this page: https://www.ticknor.org/Collecting-Prize 

    This session will take place on Zoom.

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