STAFF AWARD: Needham wins Bibliographical Society gold award

Paul Needham, librarian of the Scheide Library at Princeton University, was awarded the Gold Medal of the Bibliographical Society at its meeting in London on Nov. 15. Founded in 1892, the Bibliographical Society is the senior learned society dealing with the study of the book and its history. From time to time, the society awards a Gold Medal for distinguished services to bibliography to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of the subject and the furtherance of the society's aims. Needham's award is the 40th made since the Medal Fund was established in 1929. Of these 40, Needham is the sixth American to receive the medal.

Writing extensively on the invention and early spread of European printing, Needham is the author of more than 90 articles and books. He has published groundbreaking work on Johann Gutenberg, the Gutenberg Bible, England's first printer, William Caxton, and the history of bookbinding. Appearing this year is his study "Galileo Makes a Book: The First Edition of Sidereus Nuncius."