The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Benevolent & Woodburn Funds
Since its founding in 1952, the Antiquarian Booksellers' Benevolent Fund has provided financial assistance to those in the book trade who are in a time of need. Originally known as The Charles Grand Memorial Fund, it was specifically meant to provide “for the assistance of needy persons, regardless of affiliation, who are or have been engaged in the business of selling and dealing in books, manuscripts, and printed matter in general,” with the only provison being that funds may be granted only for personal needs, not for business needs.
The Fund is sustained by donations from ABAA members and the general public. Most booksellers are individual proprietors with limited capital, and are especially vulnerable to unanticipated ill-health, accidents, natural disasters, or other types of misfortune.
The Antiquarian Booksellers' Benevolent Fund is administered by a group of Trustees comprised of the three most recent Presidents of the ABAA. We encourage book people of all kinds – dealers, collectors, librarians, friends of the trade to support this worthy cause.
Contributions to the Benevolent Fund are completely tax-deductible. Donors are only named if their permission is given, and the names of recipients of the Fund grants are never divulged.
If you would like to donate by check, please make your contribution payable to the "ABAA Benevolent Fund" and send it to the following address:
Antiquarian Booksellers' Benevolent Fund
c/o Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America
155 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tax ID: 06-1058572
All contributions will be immediately acknowledged in writing. Please indicate if you would like your gift to remain anonymous (only the donor name, not the amount, is noted). Click here to see a list of Friends of the Fund.
The Elisabeth Woodburn Educational Fund was established in 1990 through a bequest from former ABAA President Elisabeth Woodburn.
The Woodburn Fund, which is also overseen by the Trustees of the Benevolent Fund and the ABAA’s Executive Director, provides financial support for scholarly research and education relevant to the antiquarian book trade. Included are scholarships to the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminars and the California Rare Book School, contributions to the ILAB Bibliographical Prize, and ongoing support of the Bibliographical Society of America and the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. The Woodburn Fund also has a special sub-category of funds dedicated to the support of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, which encourages and educates new book collectors. Donations to the Woodburn Fund may be earmarked for any of these specific purposes, or given for unrestricted use by the Fund.
Contributions to the Woodburn Fund are completely tax-deductible.
Continuing support of the Elisabeth Woodburn Educational Fund is vital to maintaining its effectiveness in continuing to fund the various scholarships and educational activities noted above. We again urge both our members, and our friends and colleagues in other areas of the book world, to donate as generously as you can.
Click the button below to make a contribution now.
If you would like to donate by check, please make your contribution payable to the "Elisabeth Woodburn Fund" and send it to the following address:
Elisabeth Woodburn Fund
c/o Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America
155 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tax ID: 06-1058572
All contributions will be immediately acknowledged in writing. Please indicate if you would like your gift to remain anonymous (only the donor name, not the amount, is noted). Click here to view a list of Friends of the Woodburn Fund.