Don't miss the 2024 ABAA Holiday Virtual Book Fair! The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) will host a virtual book fair to kick off the end-of-year holidays, December 5-7, 2024, at www.abaa.org/vbf. The exhibitors can be previewed here... Doors open at 12 pm ET on Thursday, December 5, 2023 and will remain open continuously until 7 pm ET on Saturday, December 7, 2024. Exhibitors will replenish their booths each night, giving collectors an incentive to visit and shop over multiple days. Admission is free! More details can be found at www.abaa.org/vbf... Sign-up to receive email updates about this and other virtual book fairs throughout the year... [more 2024 Holiday Virtual Book Fair]

Join the ABAA Gender Equity Initiative for a Networking Reception at this year's Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair. The reception will take place on Saturday, November 9, at 7 pm EST, in the Rochambeau's Left Bank Room (2nd floor). Stop by for a quick refreshment before your dinner plans. Saturday, November 9, at 7 pm EST Rochambeau The Left Bank Room (2nd floor) 900 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115 [more Networking Reception]

The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (BIABF) has announced special events and programs at this year's fair; kicking off with an Opening Night celebration on Friday, November 8, from 4-8pm; and featuring in-person talks all weekend. With more than 100 rare book dealers from the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, the UK, and 19 U.S. states, an alluring treasure trove awaits seasoned bibliophiles and first-time attendees at the Fair. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 4-8pm | Opening Night Get a first look at items for sale at this festive preview—an opportunity to browse the collections of U.S. and international dealers and to mingle with other bibliophiles, collectors, museum curators, and special collections librarians. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the event or online... Buy tickets here... SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 12:00 pm | Boston Book Fair Tour Join Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) Executive Director Erin McGuirl for a walk-through of the fair, meeting BSA-member booksellers. This is your opportunity to learn about the book trade, best practices, and to get to know some of your fellow travelers and members of the book trade. Newcomers welcome, limited to 10 participants. Registration required... 1:00 pm | The Ticknor Society Collectors' Roundtable: Off the Beaten Track Many, if not most, collectors happily search among the mountain peaks, focusing on the high points in their chosen area. But some, for various reasons, venture off the we... [more Boston Book Fair Special Events]

Edit: The recording of this event is now available on our YouTube channel: The Brown Bag Lunch Series, presented by the ABAA Gender Equity Initiative, invites you to join on Zoom on October 22nd, 2024, at 2 PM ET for a Brown Bag Lunch Series with Jordan Ross, the first prize winner of the David Ruggles Prize. Ross will be presenting his collection of "Black Collegiate Textbooks and Histories" along with the prize administrator, Patrick Olson of Patrick Olson Rare Books. October 22nd @ 2 PM ET Collecting Black Collegiate Textbooks and Histories Register here... Jordan Ross Ross has been collecting for ten years, and his decade-long effort to build a "Black Collegiate Textbooks and Histories" collection is paying off. Ross provides not only a snapshot of African American history textbooks in use during the late-19th and early-20th centuries, but also the increasingly scarce histories of the HBCUs that taught with those same textbooks. It started in Fall 2014 with a visit to the campus bookstore at Morehouse College, where he had just started his first year. He asked staff for a history of the college, only to learn that the most recent one was some fifty years out of print. He walked up the street to Spelman College, asked for the same thing, and learned that its history, too, was out of print. Now numbering more than 200 books, Ross' distinctive engagement with a print culture specific to HBCUs aims to preserve these vanishing histories. While many of the judges' decisions are... [more October Brown Bag]

The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (BIABF) celebrates its 46th year at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston, November 8-10, 2024. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market. In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), a series of special events and programs will be presented in Boston. For more information, visit www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair... More than 100 rare book dealers from Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, the UK, and 19 U.S. states will exhibit an alluring treasure trove for seasoned bibliophiles and first-time attendees. Prices range from the millions to the eminently affordable. Whether immaculately preserved or intriguingly weathered, each item tells its own story. Booksellers hold a seemingly bottomless wealth of knowledge, both artistically and historically, about each item in their collections. A complete list of exhibitors can be found here... “We are thrilled to be capping off a year-long celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the ABAA in Boston,” says Julie Roper, CEO of Capricorn Event Management, LLC, who has managed the Boston Book Fair since 2015. “This milestone year marks a significant evolution of the organization, characterized by a shift in the diversity of its membership and the material it promotes. N... [more Boston Book Fair 2024]

The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) is thrilled to announce a Virtual Book Fair on September 25-27, 2024 at abaa.org/vbf, as part of the celebrations marking its 75th anniversary. This special online event will bring together booksellers, collectors, and enthusiasts worldwide, offering an opportunity to explore and purchase rare and antiquarian books, manuscripts, ephemera, and more, all from the comfort of home. The Virtual Book Fair will feature an array of offerings from ABAA members, showcasing the diversity and richness of materials that define the antiquarian book trade. Participants will have the chance to browse exclusive collections, engage with sellers in real time to celebrate the ABAA's remarkable legacy and its contributions to the world of book collecting. View members exhibiting at the ABAA 75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair... “We are excited to offer this Virtual Book Fair to connect with a global audience and celebrate our 75th anniversary,” says Susan Benne, Executive Director of the ABAA. “This event embodies our commitment to expanding access to the rare book world and fostering relationships among collectors, sellers, and institutions.” This Virtual Book Fair is one of many events commemorating the ABAA's 75 years of promoting ethical standards, professionalism, and education within the rare book trade. The ABAA has grown from its founding in 1949 to include over 400 members, each dedicated to preserving and promoting the r... [more ABAA 75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair]

Edit: The recording of this event is now available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfeHt5PvU6U The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America was founded in 1949 to promote interest in rare and antiquarian books and book collecting, and to foster collegial relations. The association invites you to attend the September Brown Bag Lunch Series, a panel discussion: Meet the ABAA: Demystifying the Application Process. You'll gain insights into the present-day ABAA, membership benefits, and how to become a part of it. The panelists will include the president and the executive director of the ABAA, as well as ABAA members Robin Beck of Primary Sources and Sunday Steinkirchner of B & B Rare Books. The webinar is moderated by Lizzy Young, ABAA member and the Chair of the Gender Equity Initiative. September 24th @ 2 PM ET Meet the ABAA: Demystifying the Application Process CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Panelists: Alexander Akin, President (member since 2019) Alexander Akin, co-owner of Bolerium Books in San Francisco, specializes in radical political ephemera, Chinese books, and publications of Asian-American immigrant communities. He is the current president of the ABAA. Susan Benne, Executive Director Susan Benne has worked in the rare book trade for 25 years. She began her career cataloging children's and illustrated books for a rare bookseller in New York, then moved into managerial roles, first as the director of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, then as th... [more September Brown Bag]

Edit: The recording of this event is now available on our YouTube channel. The Brown Bag Lunch Series, presented by the ABAA Gender Equity Initiative, is a series of short virtual talks covering various topics, from crash courses in areas of expertise to best business practices. Please join the Gender Equity Initiative on Zoom on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024, at 2 PM ET for a Brown Bag Lunch Series with Alexander Akin. Alexander Akin, co-owner of Bolerium Books and current president of the ABAA, worked as a professional numismatist before becoming involved in the book trade. In this talk, he will explore an area of personal interest at the intersection of these worlds: poetic inscriptions on currency. We will see Persian couplets celebrating everything from territorial conquest to love for a beautiful partner, expressions of passionate religious piety, and a classical Chinese poem turned into a numbering system in Korea. August 27th @ 2 PM ET At the Intersection of Literature and Numismatics: 1,600 Years of Poetry on Money Alexander Akin, Bolerium Books CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Alexander Akin, co-owner of Bolerium Books and current president of the ABAA, holds a BS in Anthropology from UC Riverside and a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. He worked as a professional numismatist before becoming involved in the book trade. Photo by Meredith Nierman. [more Brown Bag Series: August]

Edit: The recording of this event is now available: The April Brown Bag Lunch Series will feature a panel discussion with ABAA members on the Expansion of Materials of the Antiquarian/Rare Book Trade. The webinar will focus on unique and unusual items, dealers expanding the diversity of traditional materials represented as antiquarian books, and more. Please join the Gender Equity Initiative on Zoom on April 24th, 2024, at 2 PM ET for a panel discussion with Blank Verso Books, Munster & Company, and Toadlily Books. Click here to register Expansion of Materials of the Antiquarian/Rare Book Trade Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 2pm ET Mara Fath & Steven Hill, Blank Verso Books Mara and Steven met in a bookstore, not Steven's long ago store on Church Street, just some random old San Francisco bookshop, the kind that used to be a ubiquitous feature in the city. Their bookselling partnership began. Years later, they left the city and moved to Napa, where they have an online bookstore called Blank Verso Books. Recently, they got the opportunity to join the ABAA and participated in the SF Antiquarian Fair, which was amazing (in their own words!)! The ever changing landscape of rare book and ephemera selling is a bewitching challenge they tumble around with every day. Jon Munster, Munster & Company Jon Munster and his wife Jessie are the co-owners of Munster & Company, ABAA in Corvallis, Oregon. He first started in the book trade in 2001 as a clerk and buyer for The Book Bin, ABAA, and... [more Brown Bag Series: Expansion of Materials of the Antiquarian/Rare Book Trade]

The ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to the Park Avenue Armory in New York City from April 4-7, 2024, for its 64th Edition. Here are some of the highlights that exhibitors will be offering at this year's Fair! Decorative Wood Panel with State Seal of Delaware. 7-1/2” x 10” x 1-1/2”; 2-1/2” metal connecting plate with screws on each side; dowl opening from top to bottom. Though in rough condition, it nonetheless carries emotional solemnity and significance as a witness to the Lincoln funeral journey, for it lay watch over Lincoln's coffin for the entire twenty days. Though a bit dulled, the panel still easily shows the seal for the State of Delaware; the panel must have aged gracefully, along with the car itself. The railroad coach that carried Lincoln's body from Washington to Springfield for twenty days in April 1865 was originally built as a private railroad car -- a “presidential coach”-- named The United States, for the use of the president and his cabinet. When the car was completed in early 1865, it had been more than a year in the making, and with its upholstered walls, wood paneling, decorative painted panels, and etched-glass windows, it was one of the most lavishly appointed railroad cars ever built. Its 16 broad-tread wheels could travel over nearly all gauge railroads, and its sides were ironclad, with armor-plating between the outer and inner walls. The car was 42.5 feet long and 8.5 feet wide and had a newly developed heating... [more New York Book Fair Highlights]