Biblio is proud to be a sponsor for this year’s Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize. In its third year, this $1,000 award is open to women book collectors in the United States, aged 30 or younger.
The great American book collector Mary Hyde Eccles, the first woman elected to the Grolier Club, noted that a collector must have three things: resources, education, and freedom. Historically, she observed, “only a few women have had all three, but times are changing!”
from Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize
Heather O’Donnell and Rebecca Romney are the booksellers of Honey & Wax. They established the prize in 2017 as part of their mission to create a more inclusive culture around collecting.
According to the guidelines for applying for the prize, “a collection may include books, manuscripts, and ephemera; it may be organized by theme, author, illustrator, printing technique, binding style, or another clearly articulated principle. Collections will not be judged on their size or their market value, but on their originality and their success in illuminating their chosen subjects.”
The prize winners of the past few years (including honorable mention prizes) are listed below the prize announcement. Take a few moments to browse through the winners and you’ll get an idea of the depth and detail of the collections that are being curated.
Take a few moments to browse through the winners and you’ll get an idea of the depth and detail of the collections that are being curated.
“Every year we continue to be inspired by the response to the prize, and thrilled to honor our winners, but we are most encouraged by the knowledge that young women collectors across the country have been sitting down with their books, writing essays and bibliographies and wish lists,” O’Donnell and Romney stated. “That is no small or pointless task. We know that for many of them, that effort focused their attention, sparked their curiosity, and deepened their commitment to their projects. Our goal for upcoming years is to get young women from all 50 states thinking critically about their book collections, and to take pride in their bookishness.”
Applications are open through June 1, 2019. Read all of the details and enter here.
Amber is the marketing coordinator at Biblio. A lifelong love of the written word brought her to Biblio and she happily spends her days talking about books and delving into the wide world of antiquarian books.
