The Proceedings of the Fortnightly Club

pp 1-24; [36] [18 signed photographs of members] The inaugural volume of the proceedings of Glasgow's late nineteenth century Fortnightly Club. Expensively bound in full green leather with marbled endpapers and a gilt monogram on the front cover, the volume contains the first set of proceedings followed by the 'Rules and Constitution of the Fortnightly Club (1885)'. The second part of the book is made up of eighteen humorous biographical sketches of the founder members with signed photographs of the men opposite. Each member has signed the photograph in ink below the image. The publication was limited to eighteen copies only: this one (No 2) belonged to Allan F Baird, the club's first Chairman, also known as 'River Bailie' by club members. Item 3 of the Rules and Constitution gives the clearest insight into the club's raison d'etre: 'The object. is the promotion, in an unostentatious manner, of refinement in gastronomy and language; of without vulgarity; sociality without intoxication; of repletion without excess; of music, and of general hilarity.' As stated in the club's anthem, meetings were an opportunity for 'eating or drinking or talking or thinking'. These activities continued over the next two decades. OCLC locates a complete set of the printed volumes at Indiana with another set, possibly lacking this first volume at Glasgow; Copac finds a similarly incomplete set at Oxford.