How to Join the RGME: Guide for Newcomers

October 1, 2026 in Announcements, Events, Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evience, Manuscript Studies, Research Group Speaks (The Series), Research Group Workshops, RGME Annual Appeal, RGME Friends' Meetings, RGME Library & Archives, Theme of the Year, Workshops on "The Evidence of Manuscripts"

Interested in the RGME?

Wondering how to join our group?

We offer a Guide
for people interested in our group but uncertain about how it works.

[Posted on 10 August 2026, in response to requests]

Would you like to participate in the RGME and our activities, but you’re not sure how to join?

As a nonprofit educational corporation, we do not have Members as such, with annual dues and membership obligations.

Instead, we gladly gather Officers, Associates, and Volunteers. They are listed on our website:

Officers, Associates, and Volunteers

We also have Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.

Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

The RGME has no employees as such. Sometimes, when funds permit, we engage contractors or vendors.

Logo (2024) of the Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

People

Anyone can volunteer.

Our nonprofit corporation, incorporated in the State of New Jersey on 4 November 1999, has a Board of Trustees.

1. Trustees and Officers

Officers for our corporation are elected by the Board of Trustees. Among them are the Trustees, the Secretary and Treasurer for the Corporation, the Editor-in-Chief of Publications, and other responsible functionaries.

2. Honorary Invited Associates (“Associates”)

From our beginnings in 1989 as part of a major research project in the University of Cambridge, when we established the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence as an international scholarly society, and reinforced our stature as a nonprofit educational corporation based in the State of New Jersey, we have held the tradition of inviting selected volunteers who have been involved in activities of the RGME to become our Honorary Invited Associates.

For this honorary position there are no dues nor duties; it is our traditional way of expressing formal thanks to people who have contributed to our work and mission in a variety of ways.

3. Volunteers

Volunteers join activities, background organizational work, and celebrations. Some Volunteers, over time, become Honorary Invited Associates.

4. Friends of the RGME

We also welcome all members of our community to join the Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.

https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/friends-of-the-research-group-on-manuscript-evidence/

For this position there are no dues nor duties, but, as always, we welcome donations of funds and contributions in kind (materials, time, expertise).

5. Donors and Sponsors

Donations in funds and in kind, including materials, books or manuscripts, and pro-bono contributions, are welcome. Sponsors include individuals, organizations, and institutions.

How You Can Participate

There are many ways to participate, whether by attending or contributing to our activities:

helping to organize the event, its production, and its follow-up
speaking, offering a response, moderating, or talking as panelist for a roundtable
joining the conversation in the discussion or roundtable
joining the Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence — it’s free and open to all!
joining one of our Committees to participate in the planning and running of aspects of our work
giving time, expertise, materials, and/or funding for our work and our mission, including our RGME Office, our RGME Production Team, and our RGME Library & Archives
sharing access to original materials for our research and teaching, whether through photographs or by lending or giving original works to the RGME ‘Lending Library’ and the RGME Library & Archives
giving Donations of funds (as much as you can) or Contributions in Kind
offering suggestions and requests for our activities, projects, and publications

The RGME runs a variety of events and social gatherings throughout the year. We also engage in research projects, training seminars or masterclasses, and publications of various kinds, often by request.

RGME Activities, Projects, and Publications

Lisbon, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga: The mid 15th-century Saint Vincent Panels, attributed to Nuno Gonçalves. Image (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Nuno_Gon%C3%A7alves._Paineis_de_S%C3%A3o_Vicente_de_Fora.jpg) via Creative Commons.

I. Activities: Events

“The Research Group Speaks” series of stand-alone episodes featuring interviews, roundtables, and individual presentations. Suggestions for future episodes are always welcome! For a list of Episodes, see https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/the-research-group-speaks-the-series/
RGME Workshops on the “Evidence of Manuscripts, Etc.” a series of online gatherings to focus on a original materials (a single object, group of objects, or cases-in-point) in order to observe, analyse, and discuss with a like-minded community their various features and historical context(s). Past workshops themes can be browsed at https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/rgme-workshops-on-the-evidence-of-manuscripts-etc/
Symposia and, where appropriate, Colloquia. Sometimes the Symposia occur annually or, as in the past several years, run as a joint pair of symposiums in the Spring and Autumn. Colloquia stand alongside symposia in some years, as we focus upon a particular theme or place. Several of these types of events are also hybrid, taking place jointly online as well as at a participating university. For example: 2025 RGME Spring and Autumn Symposia, 2025 RGME Colloquium on Fragments, and 2026 RGME Colloquium at the Grolier Club
Visits to Collections, both private and institutional. In the past year, we have visited collections in New Jersey (the Steven Lamazow Collection and Special Collections of Princeton University) and New York (The Grolier Club of the City of New York and Special Collections and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College).
Sponsored and co-sponsored Conference sessions: the RGME issues Calls for Papers (CFPs) for IMC Leeds (July) and ICMS Kalamazoo (May) each year.

Poster 3 for 2025 Autumn Colloquium. Workshops on “Fragments at Princeton”

The Annual Open Business Meeting, taking place during the ICMS at Kalamazoo
Meetings of the Friends of the RGME. We meet informally online for monthly meetings to talk about subjects of interest, including books and related materials, ranging from childrens’ books and recipe books to celebrations of many kinds. See: https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/meetings-of-the-friends-of-the-research-group-on-manscript-evidence/

2. Activities: Projects and Publications

Publications often result from our events, as with their papers, abstracts, or reports. They include both traditional (printed) and digital publications, from books and booklets to newsletters, blogposts, posters, and invitations.
Our Website. All our public events are reported on our official website, which comprises our principal publication with outreach to our community worldwide.
https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/

© MSK Ghent. Museum of Fine Arts Ghent. Cornelius Albertus Gijsbrects. Trompe-l’œil: Letter Rack with an Hourglass, Razor and Scissors, circa 1664. Image via https://www.mskgent.be/en/collection/1911-hj.

Our Blogs. Subjects, Specimens, Discoveries, Reports, and News are shared in our blogs, for which we welcome GuestBloggers. See Manuscript Studies and its Manuscript Studies: Contents List
Our Style Manifesto. All our Publications conform with our RGME Style Manifesto
Our Official, bespoke, Multi-Lingual Digital Font Bembino. Our Publications use our very own font Bembino, which is freely available for all to use
Our Eventbrite Registration Portal. Our activities are often listed in the RGME Eventbrite Collection, where you can register to attend in person or online (as suitable) and you can add a voluntary donation. Most of our events are free-of-charge, and your donations are most welcome to help sustain our work and mission.
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/research-group-on-manuscript-evidence-54727558903
RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipes Competition and Cookbook. The Friends of the RGME prepare a community cookbook of Favorite Recipes. Competitions for recipes on selected courses or themes (such as Salads, Cookies and Cakes, or Starters) gather entries, with award certificates and prizes.

Join Us!

To join our group and activities, please get in touch with us by contacting

Donations Please, with Our Thanks

To keep our organization running, we count on volunteers, pro-bono contributions, and donations in funds. We ask you to give what you can. Visit:

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Starters’ Orders

February 25, 2025 in Announcements, Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evience, Manuscript Studies, RGME Competition, RGME Friends' Meetings, RGME Recipes

“Starters’ Orders”
Competition for Favorite Recipes

Appetizers, Hors d’Oeuvres,
Canapés, and Starters

Round 2
of the Competition
for the Favorite Recipes of the Friends
of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Logo (2024) of the Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

[Posted on 25 February 2025, with updates]

Following the completion of Round 1 and the awards of its Prizes and the creation of its Award Certificates for the Prize Winners, we turn to Round 2.

For Round 1 and its Entries, see:

After exploring recipes for Lemonade, Etc., and awarding prizes for the winning entries in our Friends Meeting 3 (27 January 2025), we sought suggestions for the subject of Round 2 in our Competition for Favorite Recipes (and stories about them) for the RGME Friends Favorite Recipes Cookbook.

Prizes for the Favorite Recipes for “Lemonade, Etc.” Wrapped and ready to send. Photograph by Mildred Budny.

Our Favorite Recipe Competition now turns to Round 2. The theme for this round was chosen at our Fifth Meeting (23 February 2025). We wondered: Shall we move from drinks such as lemonade to hors d’oeuvres, entrées, soups, salads, etc., or go straight to desserts? At once came the collective answer: “Starters!”

Starters’ Orders

So we order Starters for our next Round of Recipes.

For this round, we consider Appetizers, Hors D’Oeuvres, Canapes, Finger Food, and Starters of many kinds.

Whatever they are called, this multi-form and multi-purpose variety of foodstuffs is designed to perk the appetite (as “amuse-bouches” or the like), serve as bite-size morsels of deliciousness, stave off hunger in place of a meal when time or opportunity constrains, start a round of courses for a full meal, or stand in between courses as a sort of intermission within an elaborate meal.

Their creation can draw upon a wide range of ingredients and culinary traditions, along with time-tested recipes perhaps handed down in the family. They might also take inspiration from improvisations drawing together what is on hand in the pantry, in the fridge, on the shelves, in the garden or orchard, in the market, or in the shop. They might comprise single ingredients or types of ingredients — such as a handful of nuts, a selection of olives, a piece or pieces of cheese, a nibbling of crudités — or combinations of flavors, textures, and tastes, such as with sauces or dips for fruits and vegetables, raw or cooked.

They serve many purposes and take multiple forms. For example, one widespread genre, Canapes, might be described as:

“a type of starter, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread (sometimes toasted) or cracker, wrapped or topped with some savoury food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite.”

————— Canapes

What are some of your favorites, and do you have stories about them? Let us know!

As for this Round on the ride to our RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipes Cookbook, shall we call it “Starters’ Orders”?

“Angels on Horseback”. Photograph by Lana via e Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic lic.

Given the name of this game, might there, among the entries, be room for one or other of these offerings, which involve sticks or skewers?

Prizes and Incentives

As with Round 1, prizes (provided by a donation) await the winning entries. Please send in your entry, with title, description, and story. Sending more than one entry is allowed, indeed encouraged.

We will review the entries and award prizes at one of our Friends’ Meetings. See their schedule:

Meetings of the Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence

Also please visit our Eventbrite Registration Portal for information about our events and registration for them.

RGME Eventbrite Collection

A list of customary or popular offerings in this broad category might jog your memory and perk your interest.

Category: Appetizers

*****

From Soup to Nuts

We aim, over time, to gather recipes and stories to fill a cookbook. In this way, we can compare notes and share experiences reflecting the range and breadth of our RGME community. A full-course meal, perhaps, in a veritable Feast.

13-Course Place Setting. Photograph (2019) By Hopefulromntic21 – Own work, via Wikimedia Commons via CC BY-SA 4.0.

*****

Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Send your entries and contact the Friends via

friends.of.rgme@gmail.com

*****

Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, Still Life with Fruits, Nuts, and Cheese (1613) by Floris Claesz van Dyck (1575–1651). By Floris van Dyck – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150586

Note on the Image: Haarlem, Netherlands, Frans Hals Museum, “Still Life with Fruits, Nuts, and Cheese” (1613) by Floris Claesz van Dyck (1575–1651). Credit: By Floris van Dyck – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150586.

*****

Tags: Appetizers, Favorite Recipes, Friends of the Reaearch Group on Manuscript Evidence, Hors d'Oeuvres, Lemonade, Recipe Competition, RGME Cookbook, Starters
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How to Join the RGME: Guide for Newcomers

Interested in the RGME?

Wondering how to join our group?

We offer a Guide
for people interested in our group but uncertain about how it works.