What is reproduced here must be as rare an item as any from the early years of the IPA – an unused membership application form for the decade 1910–1919. The section to be completed by the applicant is perforated, ready to be torn along the wavy line. The form is probably a token of the systematic and meticulous approach of the young Daniel Jones (1881–1967), who became Assistant Secretary to the Association in 1910. The clerical task of keeping track of the membership must have been considerable; in 1914, numbers peaked at 1,751, drawn from 40 countries (MacMahon Reference MacMahon1986: 31).

This particular form was found in an unbound 1926 issue of Le Maître Phonétique among hundreds preserved at UCL, though it may have migrated there merely as a bookmark, since the information about the President and the rate of subscription are out of date for the post-war period. Wilhelm Viëtor (b.1850), whom the form names as President, had been elected to that office in 1890, but died in 1918 during an eight-year lacuna in the publication of the Association's journal enforced by the Great War of 1914–1918. When the journal limped precariously back into life in 1923, the first article, by Paul Passy, bore the title viː nuvɛlə [New life] (Passy Reference Passy1923: 1) and mentions the death of Viëtor as one of many losses that had occurred since the last issue. It was not until 1927 that a new President – Passy himself – was elected to replace Viëtor (Le Maître Phonétique 1927: 24).

The preamble to the form gives a succinct summary of the aims and activities of the Association, which remained true for much of the twentieth century. It is interesting that after the alphabet, the next concern to be mentioned is the Association's examination in phonetics, which began on an official footing in 1908 and still continues in London, though this aspect of the Association's activities is probably not widely known among those members whose experience of the IPA is through the modern journal. At present, two examinations are held each year, and the Examinations Secretary is Patricia Ashby.

For much of the twentieth century, the IPA and its journal were effectively sustained by an executive and secretarial hub located at University College, so it is unsurprising that among material preserved at UCL is so much relevant to the history of the Association. Apart from runs of the journal – right back to issue 1 (May 1886) of Dhi Fonètik Tîtcer – which of course are accessible in other major libraries, are large numbers of unbound copies, some containing authors' or editor's annotations and many with ephemera such as the membership form reproduced here, conference flyers, and so on. There are also files of press cuttings, notes and correspondence concerning Council elections and votes – such as the extensive consultation that led to the choice of Journal of the International Phonetic Association as the modern title for the journal. In addition, there are records of examination results extending over many years.

It will be noticed that this early form refers to two categories of membership, ‘active’ and ‘ordinary’, and that active members received two copies of the journal, the second to be used, as it says, ‘for propaganda purposes’. A certain proselytizing zeal was certainly a characteristic of the early IPA, but in fact the two categories of membership survived into the 1960s, being abolished only with effect from January 1966 (Gimson Reference Gimson1965: 2); and the last seemingly quaint mention of ‘propagande’ seems to have been on an unnumbered page describing the goals of the Association and giving details of membership (in French) included at the back of the July–December issue in 1961 (though it is worth noting that French ‘propagande’ doesn't necessarily have the generally pejorative sense which English ‘propaganda’ had acquired by then).