The Bibliographical Society of America is pleased to announce its 2018 Fellowship Program.
The BSA Fellowship Committee wishes to remind our broad community that BSA awards are open to any member of the scholarly community engaged in bibliographical scholarship, including: academics, faculty, graduate students, booksellers, collectors, and scholars studying the materiality of books, manuscripts, and other cultural documents and artifacts.
The Society invites applications for its annual Katharine Pantzer Senior Fellowship in Bibliography and the British Book Trades as well as its annual short-term fellowships, all of which support bibliographical inquiry and research in the history of the book trades and in publishing history. Eligible topics may concentrate on books and documents in any field, but should focus on the book or manuscript (the physical object) as historical evidence. Such topics may include establishing a text or studying the history of book production, publication, distribution, collecting, or reading. Thanks to the generosity of donors, certain special fellowships support research in particular areas of study. Applicants should therefore read the fellowship titles and guidelines here to determine project eligibility and fit. Please note: these fellowships do not support enumerative bibliography (i.e. the preparation of lists). Individuals who have not received support in the previous five years will be given preference. All fellowships require a project report within one year of receipt of the award, and a copy of any subsequent publications resulting from the project, to be sent to the BSA.
Fellowships:
The BSA-Harry Ransom Center Pforzheimer Fellowship in Bibliography (two awards at $3,000 each) supports the bibliographical study of early modern books and manuscripts, 1455-1700, held in the Ransom Center’s Pforzheimer Library and in related collections of early printed books and manuscripts, including the Pforzheimer Gutenberg Bible. For more information on this fellowship click here.
The BSA-Pine Tree Foundation Fellowship in Hispanic Bibliography ($3,000) supports the bibliographical study of printed and manuscript items 1) in the Spanish language produced during any period and in any country; or 2) in any language provided they were produced in Spain, or in its overseas dominions during the time of Spanish sovereignty; or 3) the bibliographical study of book and manuscript collections in Spain, or in its overseas dominions during the time of Spanish sovereignty; or 4) the bibliographical study of Spanish-language book and manuscript collections during any period and in any country.
The BSA-Pine Tree Foundation Fellowship in Culinary Bibliography ($3,000) supports the bibliographical study of printed and manuscript cookbooks (once commonly known as receipt books); medical recipe books that also contain culinary recipes; other types of books, manuscript, and printed material that include a substantial body of culinary recipes; treatises on and studies of gastronomy; or memoirs, diary accounts, or descriptions of food and cooking. Projects may cover any period or country.
The Katharine Pantzer Senior Fellowship in Bibliography and the British Book Trades ($6,000) supports research in topics relating to book production and distribution in Britain during the hand-press period as well as studies of authorship, reading and collecting based on the examination of British books published in that period, with a special emphasis on descriptive bibliography.
The BSA-ASECS Fellowship for Bibliographical Studies in the Eighteenth Century ($3,000). Recipients must be a member of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies at the time of the award.
The Charles J. Tanenbaum Fellowship in Cartographical Bibliography ($3000) supports projects dealing with all aspects of the history, presentation, printing, design, distribution and reception of cartographical documents from Renaissance times to the present, with a special emphasis on eighteenth-century cartography. Funded by the Pine Tree Foundation of New York.
The Katharine Pantzer Fellowship in the British Book Trades ($3,000) supports bibliographical inquiry as well as research in the history of the book trades and publishing history in Britain.
The McCorison Fellowship for the History and Bibliography of Printing in Canada and the United States ($3,000). Funded by a gift of Donald Oresman.
The Reese Fellowship for American Bibliography and the History of the Book in the Americas ($3,000). The fellowship may be awarded to any scholar, whether academic or independent, whose project explores the history of print culture in the Western Hemisphere. There will be two Reese Fellowships awarded in the 2017 competition.
BSA Short-term Fellowships ($3,000). The Society also offers a number of unnamed, short-term fellowships supporting bibliographical research as described above.
Application Guidelines:
Applications are due 1 December of each year. Applications should include the following components:
–Application form
–Project proposal of no more than 1000 words
–Applicant curriculum vitae
–Two signed letters of recommendation on official letterhead submitted independently by referees. The two letters of recommendation must be signed and submitted independently by referees (in PDF or MS Word format) via the BSA Fellowship recommendation submission form. No other documentation will be considered by the committee.
Please format all attachments as PDF or Microsoft Word (.docx) documents, and use this form to submit your application: http://bibsocamer.org/awards/
You may direct your referees to the following online form for submitting recommendations:
http://bibsocamer.org/awards/
The application package and two supporting letters of recommendation must be received by 1 December. We regret that we cannot consider late or incomplete applications. Applicants are advised to request recommendation letters well in advance and to direct referees to the BSA site (http://www.bibsocamer.org/
For more information, please contact the chair of the Fellowship Committee at bsafellowships@bibsocamer.org.
