Text publication society

[2][3] The idea of extending the model to the membership of a society was initiated by the Roxburghe Club, founded in 1812 as a convivial association of bibliophiles, but which rapidly introduced the principle that each member should sponsor the publication of an edition of a rare work of interest to members, and that other volumes would be published by the Club collectively.

The Club's first publication, donated by Sir William Bolland and issued in 1814, was the Earl of Surrey's translation of parts of Virgil's Aeneid, originally printed in 1557.

[5] Success being dependent on fund-raising and the attraction of new members, the early societies often suffered from financial and organisational troubles.

Its establishment was deeply rooted in local pride: in an early prospectus, James Raine (its principal founder and first secretary) drew attention to just a few unpublished manuscripts of Durham interest, "which, in these times, few individuals would incur the risk of printing at their own cost; but which nevertheless, afford even singly, how much more collectively, the most valuable materials to those who are anxious to study rightly the History of our forefathers under its different characters".

In the 21st century, partly as a result of the growing quantity of historical research materials now available online, many societies have experienced a significant decline in membership numbers, and consequent difficulties in maintaining their traditional business model.

Societies have responded to the challenge in various ways, including by selectively uploading some of their publications to the World Wide Web, while continuing to publish other materials in print.