The Philobiblon Club, founded in 1893, is Philadelphia’s club for Bibliophiles—Collectors, Librarians, Booksellers, Binders, Printers, Illustrators, and anyone else who loves Books.

The Philobiblon Club is exactly what its name implies: an association of book-lovers. It is not a literary club of writers, publishers, and illustrators of books and articles; nor is it a club of those who are interested primarily in the ideas and experiences that go into books; nor is it an association of bibliographers for whom the book is a tool for study and research. It is a club for those who love books—old, new, big, little, proud, quaint, rich, poor. For its true members (and admittedly there is much overlapping in all these interests) the book as book has a special mystique that can be extended only by courtesy to the vellum manuscript, the letter collection, the magazine or newspaper, the television or film.

From Robert Spiller, The Philobiblon Club of Philadelphia: The First Eighty Years, 1893-1973.

Members meet at the Franklin Inn Club for dinner and a book-related talk, normally on the second Tuesday of the month, from October to April or May. These monthly meetings start with a reception at six, followed by dinner at six-thirty. The talk generally starts around eight. Once each season—usually in February—the Club holds the Edwin Wolf Memorial Lecture, in memory of Edwin Wolf 2nd, one of Philadelphia’s greatest bookmen. Other special events are being planned and will be announced as soon as they are scheduled.

Guests are welcome to attend the monthly dinner meeting. If you are interested in attending one of the monthly meetings, please contact the Club’s Secretary, Jackie Parascandola (jpara@upenn.edu) to make dinner reservations.

The Philobiblon Club is affiliated with FABS, the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies.