Meetings of the
Friends of the Research Group
on Manuscript Evidence

Online by Zoom

On Weekdays at 5:30–7:00 pm EST (GMT-5)

Since 2024, the Friends have held Meetings. They take place online on a weekday afternoon or early evening, after a workday. They are designed as informal gatherings where we might meet to talk about subjects of interest, such as books we are reading or wish to receive as gifts.

Here we welcome our wider community, whether scholars, students, collectors, book-lovers, and others. While our RGME scholarly events (such as Symposia, Workshops, and Episodes for “The Research Group Speaks”), our Friends’ Meetings can relax with conversation. There are many ways to talk about how written words (such as books) have the power to transmit knowledge, imagination, and aspiration across time and place — as with some favorite books, stories, and poems.

There is no charge to attend our Meetings.

You must register to receive the Zoom Link. With registration, we ask for Voluntary Donations to help support our nonprofit educational organization powered principally by volunteers. We are grateful for your contributions.

Meeting 1. Monday 28 October 2024

Meet & Greet!

We launch the series of Meetings. Welcome!

Now we might choose what sorts of activities the Friends would wish to have. Also, let’s design a Logo for the Friends of the RGME. Suggestions are welcome.

Meeting 2. Monday 18 November 2024

Design our very own Logo!

Proposed designs for our Logo are on the Menu. Let’s see what we think.

Meeting 3. Tuesday 17 December 2024

Holiday Party!

For example, we consider holiday reading. What books might you wish to give or receive for the holidays?

Also, we think we have the collaborative design for our RGME Friends’ Logo. Hurray!

Thank you for your design suggestions and corrections. We are delighted with the creation and the collaborative process to achieve it. (See above at the top of the page!)

Meeting 4. Monday 27 January 2025

Prizes Round 1!

• Registration for Meeting 4
  Meeting 4 of the Friends of the RGME: Tickets

For this Meeting, we will consider, among other things, the entries so far for the RGME Recipe Competition and award the First Round of Prizes.

See:

• Three-Step Program, Lemonade Included
• RGME Favorite Recipes for Lemonade, Etc.

Meeting 5. Monday 24 February 2025

• Registration for Meeting 5
  Meeting 5 of the Friends of the RGME: Tickets

At this meeting, as our community gathers and our series evolves, we continue to talk about books and activities of interest.

Because the next Episode of “The Research Group Speaks” (Saturday 1 March) will feature “Comic Book Theory for Medievalists: The Poetics” by Jesse Hurlbut, perhaps we would like to share stories about our interests in comic books.

Information and Registration for that Episode:

• Episode 20. “Comic Book Theory for Medievalists

Also, we seek suggestions for the subject of Round 2 in our Competition for Favorite Recipes (and stories about them) for the RGME Friends Favorite Recipes Cookbook. After Lemonade, Etc., what are your wishes? Shall we move from drinks to hors d’oeuvres, entrées, or go straight to desserts?

Meeting 6. Monday 17 March 2025

• Registration for Meeting 6
  Meeting 6 of the Friends of the RGME: Tickets

For this Meeting, let’s go back to the beginning, as we consider our own processes of “Learning How to Read and Learning to Love Books”.

Food for Thought.
For this Meeting, let’s compare notes about how we first learned to read (if we remember) and what made us interested in books.

What were our Favorite Books from Childhood? Do we still have them?

Also, how have our interests in books changed across time?

Food and Drink.
Our Favorite Recipe Competition now turns to Round 2, with the theme chosen at Meeting 4.

Now we consider Appetizers, Hors D’Oeuvres, and Starters. Shall we call it “Starters’ Orders”?

• See Starters’ Orders

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Meeting 7. Tuesday 29 April 2025

Food for Thought

Our 2025 Spring Symposium (28–30 March) features an interview with Richard Kopley, author of the new biography of Edgar Allan Poe: A Life (University of Virginia Press, 2025). For our Meeting, shall we consider Biographies or Autobiographies which we find especially inspiring? Does your own library include (auto)biographies? Are there ones that you would like to own or read next?

Are there types of subjects, occupations, vocations, individuals, or destinies to which you turn or are attracted? For example: Writers, Artists, Composers, Musicians, Dancers, Actors, Speakers, Political Figures, Sports Figures, Religious Figures, Industrialists, Journalists, Publishers, Chefs, Fashion Designers, Landscape Designers, Celebrities? To name a few. Which are your Favorites? Or the ones that you Love to Hate? Let’s compare notes.

Food and Drink

We seek recipes and stories about Favorite Recipes as we advance, step by step and course by course, on the RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipes Cookbook. Round 2 considers Starters, Appetizers, Hors d’Oeuvres, and Canapés.

• Starters’ Orders

Registration

• Meeting 7 of the Friends of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence: Tickets

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Meeting 8. Monday 19 May 2025

Food for Thought

This time, let’s explore the subject of our favorite Children’s Books.

If you are a child, or a child at heart, do you read any books that could be called ‘Children’s Books’?

If you are a grown up, do you remember any books from your childhood that you especially liked, and perhaps still like? Do you have favorite authors and illustrators for them? Do you think that the scribbles or scrawls that copies of the books tend to acquire as signs of use (or lack of supervision) are annoying or endearing?

Do you collect Children’s Books?

What counts as ‘Children’s Books’, anyway? Do or did you agree with what ‘Grown-Ups’ consider to be appropriate books for children?

Do you think that movies made from Children’s Books help the cause or hinder?

Food and Drink

Round 2 of our Favorite Recipes continues. Information:

• Starters’ Orders

Might we consider recipes from or inspired by Children’s Books?

Registration

• https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meeting-8-of-the-friends-of-the-research-group-on-manuscript-evidence-tickets-1340079647299

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Meeting 9. Monday 16 June 2025

Food for Thought

Shall we continue our conversation about Childrens’ Books? The world of Children’s Books is so wide and wonderful! Other genres await beyond the ones we will consider at Meeting 8. Which ones would they be?

At both Meetings 8 and 8, in some cases these genres as well as their authors, illustrators, and re-creators will emerge spontaneously as the conversation develops.

To name a few, as “Starters” for the course of conversation and the exchange of  reminiscences, how about these heros, heroines, and villains who fascinated or enchanted us as children, or might (still) do now:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Beatrix Potter
• Cruella De Vil and the 101 Dalmations
• Doctor Dolittle
• Dr. Seuss
• Eloise
• Madeline
• Mary Poppins
• Maurice Sendak
• My Uncle Oswald
• Nancy Drew
• The Hobbit
• The Little Princess
• Winnie The Pooh
• . . .

Others that you would like to add to the list? Please tell us about them.

Food and Drink

Also, we could compare notes about recipes emerging from Round 2 of our Favorite Recipes Competition. Some emerged from our recent scholarly events, such as for the Reception closing the recent 2025 RGME Visit to Vassar College.

Therein lies a story . . . .

Preparing for our next Meetings which may focus on Cookbooks and the handing-down of treasured recipes, we will discuss the plan for the RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipes, which our first Rounds of Favorite Recipes have begun to share.

Registration

• RGME Friends’ Meeting 9: Tickets

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Meeting 10. Monday 21 July 2025

Food for Thought

Following Meeting 9, we extend our explorations of

1) Children’s Stories, with an exploration of Fairy Tales; and
2) Cookbooks and cookery — when it comes to children’s books and to everyday and any day occasions.

Thus we combine our conversations about books, cooks, and cookbooks, as we advance with our preparations for the RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipes Cookbook.

The suggestions from Meeting 9 refine our thoughts as we shape the plan to include the RGME Mission, considering the transmission of written words across time and place, to focus on cookbooks from communities, ranging from families to the RGME and its Friends.

Food and Drink

Cookery! Besides the progress of Round 2 for our Friends’ Favorite Recipe Competition, we open up our welcome or recipes to all manner of delectibles. Please tell us your favorites! And we love to hear about the stories about who made the dishes, when they were served, how you learned about them, and what you love about them.

By request, we would like to know about recipes for delicious food or drink that are super easy to do. Also, we look for recipes for special occasions and for all-year round.

Registration

• RGME Friends Meeting 10: Tickets

We look forward to greeting you!

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Meeting 11. Monday 25 August 2025

Food for Thought

Following up earlier conversations, we consider, by request:

1) Illustrations and Illustrators for Fairy Tales
2) Favorite Cookbooks, including Heirloom Recipes

These subjects sometimes connect, as with the cooking that can provide an important ingredient for a fairy tale, with seasonings to taste. For example, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” call for porridge; “The Gingerbread Boy” needs an oven to reach the right consistency; and “Hansel and Gretel” meet up with a dedicated cook with unsavory tastes. Bread crumbs, anyone?

Food and Drink

Remembering, we may celebrate the food of childhood, the makers of foods of yesteryear, and the cookbooks or recipe cards which might yet preserve the descriptions and techniques of parents, grandparents, and others who nurtured our growth, provided nourishment as they saw fitting, and transmitted their habits to our time and beyond. The meeting might bring sights of some well-thumbed cookbooks or cards which shaped and communicated customs from one generation to the next.

Registration

• Meeting 11 of the Friends of the RGME: Tickets

Let’s share stories!

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Meeting 12. Monday 22 September 2025

Meeting 12 develops the conversation about family heirlooms, from cookbooks to children’s books and photograph albums.

Food for Thought

Some of us might bring treasured family cookbooks or other storybooks as Show-and-Tell to share.

On the occasion of the Autumn Equinox, we might reflect on the transition between seasons toward shorter days and longer nights in the Northern Hemisphere, or toward longer days and shorter nights in the Southern Hemisphere, as our Friends at the Meeting join from both spheres.

Food and Drink

Whetting the appetite, we celebrate the food of childhood, the makers of food, and the cookbooks or recipe cards which hand down the instructions and techniques of traditions. The meeting might bring to light some well-thumbed cookbooks or cards which transmit treasured customs and memories from families and communities.

Let’s share stories!

Registration

• Meeting 12 of the Friends of the RGME: Tickets

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Meeting 13. Monday 27 October 2025

Just in time for Halloween!

Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, how?

Costumes, pumpkins, cats, candies, treats?

Let’s explore the Halloween Scene. Stories included!

With this meeting, the RGME Friends can celebrate rounding out the first year of its meetings.

Registration

• Meeting 13 of the Friends of the RGME: Tickets

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Meeting 14. Monday 17 November 2025

This Meeting stands between the 2025 RGME Autumn Symposium and the 2025 RGME Autumn Colloquium on Fragments.

What a good opportunity to meet, relax, and talk about the season and seasonings!

Food for Thought

What would we like to talk about? Suggestions are welcome.

Food and Drink

Favorite holiday fare? The RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipe Book, in preparation, invites your recommendations.

Registration

• RGME Friends’ Meeting 14. Seasons: Tickets

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Meeting 15. Monday 29 December 2025
Rescheduled for:
Monday 5 January 2026
“Winter Holidays”

For this meeting, we welcome the winter holidays (for the Northern Hemisphere) or the summer (for the Southern Hemisphere) and the approach of a new calendar year.

On the menu for discussion:

Food for Thought

Books and celebrations for winter holidays, including gifts,  decorations, and festivities. The date for this meeting, as rescheduled, falls on Twelfth Night, or Epiphany.

Question for the end-of-year / beginning of the year: Do you have books to recommend for holiday gifts and holiday reading? Discuss. We note that in earlier centuries, gifts were presented at the New Year. (Any day could be a good day for the gift of a book!)

We also consider the new RGME Theme for the New Year. See:

• 2026 Theme of the Year: “Transformations and Renewals”

Food and Drink

Round 3 for the Friends’ Favorite Recipes Competition

With the choice of subject for Round 3: Salads at our previous Meeting, we continue to explore recipes and invite your favorites. Note that we have begun to issue Award Certificates and Prizes for Round 2: Starters.

Registration

• RGME Friends’ Meeting 14. Winter Holidays: Tickets

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Meeting 16. Monday 2 February 2026
“Candlemas” and “Groundhog Day”

This meeting starts a new year. We open the year with an introduction to the RGME Theme for the Year: “Transformations and Renewals”.

• 2026 Theme of the Year: “Transformations and Renewals”

Food for Thought

Noting the occurrence on 2 February of the

Feast of Candlemas,
Groundhog Day, and
other celebrations which mark transitions, purification, and light,

we might, for example, consider recipes for pancakes and crêpes.

Likewise, we note the celebration on 1 February of Inbolc, traditionally marking the arrival of Spring.

Food and Drink

Round 3 of our RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipes Competition considers Salads, Etc. 

Please send us your entries for the RGME Friends Favorite Recipes Competition. Awards are being made. 

• https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/recipes/starters-orders/
  

Please join the delicious hunt as we search for recipes for a community cookbook of RGME Friends’ Favorite Recipes, stories and pictures included. Among other quests, we delight in honoring the recipes handed down in families and from generation to generation.

We get ready to move to Round 4 in the competition. Choices?

Registration

• RGME Friends’ Meeting 16. “Groundhog Day” Registration

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Meeting 17. Monday 23 March 2026

“Welcome to Spring”

We propose to celebrate the coming of spring (officially on 20 March this year) by considering the hopeful delights of spring, as the earth, plants, trees, and buds or flowers reawaken for a new season.

We might consider, for example, books about botany, plants, trees, flowers, herbs, gardening, garden designs, and the joys of experiencing nature in its benign, nutritious, nourishing glories. Do you have favorite gardening books?

One of the subjects, by request at our January meeting, is chocolate-chip cookies. Let us know your favorites!

Registration

• RGME Friends’ Meeting 17. “Welcome to Spring” Registration

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Meeting 18. Monday 20 April 2026

“Books and Textiles”

We consider these materials in combination as the first in a series of RGME events about connections between books, print, and textiles. Here converge our interests in texts, textiles, and physical objects with tactility — and sometimes with beauty, craftsmanship, and expert design. Just as delightful, for their own reasons, might be the items created by amateur and gifted improvisation.

Let’s explore.

Registration

RGME Friends’ Meeting 18. “Books and Textiles”

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Meeting 19. Monday 18 May 2026.

“Food Groupies” 

We gather to plan the RGME Friends’ Cookbook of Favorite Recipes. Bring your ideas as we compare notes about favorite cookbooks and recipes, select a theme, and consider what sort and shape of cookbook we would like to share.

There is no need to be a cook to join the conversation. We all need to eat, and there are bonuses when we can enjoy the process of eating together, savoring the fruits of labors, enjoying creativity, and conversing about things that we love, including books.

Remember, there are awards for contributions of recipes, photographs, and stories about food, cooks, family recipes, improvisations, and appreciation for those who cook and share the feast.

Registration

• https://eventbrite.com/e/rgme-friends-meeting-19-food-groupies-tickets-1987612800391

Meeting 20, Etc.

Watch this space.

We look forward to greeting you!

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Comments, questions, or suggestions?

Contact the Friends via

• friends.of.rgme@gmail.com

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Donations

We invite donations, which may be tax-deductible, for our nonprofit educational corporation powered principally by volunteers, pro-bono contributions, and good-will. Please help us to pay the bills and continue with our collaborative mission. Donations can be easy. See:

• 2026 Annual Appeal
• Donations

Thank you!

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