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The Manuscript Society News
The Society established The Manuscript Society News in 1980 to keep members informed about the activities of the Society. Coverage of the annual meetings' manuscript venues is highlighted each year as are the reports on the Fall and Spring meetings of the Officers and Trustees of the Society. Several initiatives of the Society including the campaigns to augment its Replevin and Scholarship Funds are among regular activity reports. The News also recognizes members who contribute "above and beyond" through its annual listings of higher membership categories, donors, and awards given at the yearly meeting.
Annual meeting reports highlight stellar autograph venues, some rarely seen by the public at large. In London, the Magna Charta; in Dublin, the Book of Kells; in venues at home, Robert E. Lee's Order Number Nine and a host of other manuscripts including Einstein, Beethoven, Emerson, and other equally rare and important autographs and manuscripts.
The News keeps track of the Society's campaigns to raise support for its Scholarship and Replevin Funds. More than $60,000 came in during 2008 to enhance the Society's research scholarships for graduate students while the Replevin Fund garnered more than $37,000 to challenge state and federal efforts to wrest privately held documents from members.
The News also features stories about members like former executive director David Smith--the archivist for Walt Disney, recognized for his accomplishments as a "Disney Legend"--an honor usually reserved retirees. Or, Richie Maass, a founder of the Society, who represented the American Jewish effort to save European Jews during WWII.
Digests of national and international reports from the autograph world relating to thefts, forgeries, unusual autograph sales, and other stories of interest also fill the pages of the News. The unearthing of new Dead Sea Scrolls, an English ferry captain's autograph album, a return of musical manuscripts, the rescue of priceless autographs from fire--these and a multitude of other stories help keep members abreast of the autograph world.
In short, the News serves as a window to both the activities of the Society and its members and to the events of the wider world of autographs and manuscripts.