Associate Professor Jonathan Senchyne, director of the Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture, has been named associate editor of the esteemed Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (PBSA). PBSA was first published in 1904, and it is the journal of the oldest scholarly society in North America dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts.
“I am honored by the invitation to join the editorial team of PBSA and by the trust given me to shape and grow this important venue for scholarship in our field,” Senchyne said.
“From my perch as a literary and book historian in a library and information science department, I see students, researchers, collectors, booksellers, artists, and information workers who are deeply engaged in bibliographical thinking, many of whom do not yet recognize their connection with the tradition of bibliography,” he added. “I hope as associate editor to grow PBSA as a space where people want to publish, read, and teach exciting bibliographical thought covering a diverse range of disciplines, backgrounds, and subjects.”
Senchyne noted that connections between PBSA and UW–Madison go back more than a century. One of the founders of the Biographical Society of America (BSA), which publishes PBSA, was Rueben Gold Thwaites, who also served as executive director of the Wisconsin Historical Society from 1887 to 1913. According to WHS, “Thwaites developed excellent relations with [UW–Madison], and in 1900, largely through his efforts, the libraries of the two institutions were housed in a new building on the university campus.” In the early 20th century, Thwaites also taught bibliography in the earliest iteration of the Information School, the Wisconsin Summer School of Library Science, founded in 1895.
Now, Senchyne will carry on the long tradition of the careful scholarship of historical books and manuscripts, as well as their relationships with the cultures that produced them, as the associate editor of PBSA.
Congratulations to Jonathan Senchyne on this well-earned honor!
To learn more about Jonathan Senchye’s appointment as associate editor of PBSA, read the society’s official announcement.
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