Although nearly a third of England's county and regional record-publishing societies began work before the Lincoln Record Society (LRS), few of them have published centenary histories; some fell by the wayside, while others were perhaps embarrassed by an irregular and intermittent record of publication. Others, like the Sussex Record Society, have marked their centenary by a special volume that did not include a centenary history. The two oldest, however, the Surtees Society and the Chetham Society, both attempted the task. It was the Chetham Society's misfortune that its centenary fell during the Second World War. It had already published James Tait's twenty-two-page retrospect of the Society in its 100th volume (1939), and his short centennial essay was delayed until the appearance of volume 109 in 1945. Neither, however, displaced the publication of records as such in those volumes. The Surtees, however, had published a full centennial history by our late Fellow A Hamilton Thompson in 1934; the introductory essay was followed by a list of members, past and present.

It is therefore a measure of Lincoln's self-confidence that this volume, by our Fellow Dr Nicholas Bennett, Vice-Chancellor, Librarian, and Hon Lay Canon of Lincoln Cathedral and current general editor of the LRS, follows Hamilton Thompson's precedent closely. Its second half consists of lists of officers and of individual and institutional members, followed by an admirably commented bibliography of the society's publications and an index. The centenary history proper forms the first half, including photographs of worthies of the society, significant correspondence, the initial circular and seal design. It has many lively quotations, both from correspondence and minutes and from reviews of the society's publications. The history's chronological treatment, again following the Surtees precedent, is unbalanced, with six chapters of 105 pages on prehistory and the first half-century, and one of twelve pages on the second.

This approach has the advantage of allowing an informative coverage of earlier attempts to publish the county's records, including those of the unsuccessful Lincolnshire Record Society. Clerical and diocesan support were crucial in the present society's early success; it arose out of the Diocesan Records Committee formed in 1906, and was driven forward by Canon C W Foster with support from two successive bishops, Edward King (who died months before the society's inauguration) and E L Hicks. The title ‘Lincoln Record Society’ allowed a fruitful combination of function in editing both diocesan and county records for publication. Unlike some county societies, it published bishops’ registers (notwithstanding an unhappy partnership with the Canterbury and York Society), and for a few years had a Parish Register Section. Despite efforts to secure a balance between lay and clerical, and between English and Latin documents, the bibliographical section of this book shows that ecclesiastical materials dominated publication until the 1970s or later.

The history is well written and enjoyable to read. It is strong on heroes, not only Foster but the Stentons (whose devotion to Lincoln may explain their neglect of their home county's records), Hamilton Thompson, the ninth Lord Monson, Sir Francis Hill and above all Kathleen Major, who filled all but one of the society's offices at one time or another and supported it for sixty-five years. The long history of the Registrum Antiquissimum project, begun by Foster, looms large, as do those of the registers of Repingdon and Sutton. The usual effects of the two world wars and of later inflation on publication are well expounded; the LRS did unusually well in surmounting them, particularly the catastrophic inflation of the 1970s, which was compounded by a banker-treasurer's mismanagement.

Apart from a two-page summary of record publication in nineteenth-century England, the history gives little sense of how the LRS's achievements and characteristics differed from those of its peers: what do they know of Lincoln who only Lincoln know? (Even monkey damage was not restricted to Lincoln.) It will stand as a source for those seeking to make such comparisons. The list of members is arranged alphabetically – helpful to biographers and the members themselves, less so to social historians who must use it as a quarry, not a guide. The index is confined to people, places, publications and a handful of institutions; it does not cover people and places mentioned in the bibliographical section.