Founded in 1995 with a generous bequest from Irma S. Roach, the fund supports the acquisition of books printed prior to 1900 and is in memory of her husband, Dr. William J. Roach, former Chairman of the Romance Languages Department at Penn.

A distinguished scholar, Dr. Roach was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1956 and the Haskins Medal in 1986 for The Continuations of the Old French "Perceval" of Chrétien de Troyes: The Third Continuation by Manessier, volume 5. The Haskins Medal is awarded annually by the Medieval Academy of America for a distinguished book in the field of medieval studies.