Southern Cal Book Clubs

[genefree@speed.net (Gene Freeman)]

I attended a very pleasant reception for Ann and Walter Crawford today. The
event was a celebration of the publication of Volume 3, of their *Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, an Annotated Bibliography of Criticsm and Scholarship.* A
remarkable book that will earn the Crawfords the lasting appreciation of
all Coleridge scholars. California State University, Long Beach has a fine
Coleridge collection, mostly assembled by the Crawfords and donated to the
Library. I know this has little to do with my subject line, but while at
the reception I had the pleasure of meeting Irene Meyer, Supervisor,
Special Collections and Archives. We talked and I mentioned Southern
California is blessed with several very fine book clubs with significant
membership coming from the many libraries in the area. Several of these
have membership limits because of tradition, and the size of their meeting
locations. The Book Collectors of Los Angeles (its open to anyone, not just
Angelinos) meets once a month for dinner and a bookish talk and they also
visit local collections of rare and important books. A couple of weeks ago
the Zamorano Club and The Book Collectors hosted a reception for the APHA
meeting at the Huntington. In Orange County, Los Campadres con Libros meets
once a month at the Sherman Library and Gardens for a continental breakfast
and a talk on books and related subjects. The Zamorano and Los Compadres
both have limited memberships but the Book Collectors, and the Southern
California Chapter of the American Printing History Association (APHA) have
no membership constraints and give members the opportunity to meet people
with similar interests, share fine food, and enjoy stimulating lectures. If
anyone would like more information on joining one of the open Southern
California Clubs let me know and I'll forward more info and the points of
contact.

Gene Freeman
FAX (714) 542-8814
E-mail:genefree@speed.net