After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the 54th California International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to the Bay Area on Friday, February 11! 

This in-person book fair will be held at the Oakland Marriott City Center in Oakland, California, and will feature rare books and related treasures from both US and international booksellers.

To coincide with the in-person event, the ABAA Virtual Book Fair: California Edition will take place from 9 am (PST) Saturday, February 12 until 5 pm (PST) Monday, February 14 and will be accessible at abaa.org/vbf. 

SCHEDULE

All times PST.

 

Friday, February 11

3:00 PM -- Doors open in Oakland!

8:00 PM -- Doors close.

 

Saturday, February 12
 

12:45 PM - 1:45 PM -- Good Words Make Better Wine: Building the UC Davis Library's Wine Writers Collection
Jullianne H. Ballou

In 2018, the UC Davis Library began to expand its Wine Writers Collection, which includes the papers and digital files of people who have written or podcasted about California wine from the 1950s to the present. The writers' archives — and the ephemera they include — extend the literary works in the library’s circulating and rare wine book and manuscript collections, which date to the start of the twelfth century. UC Davis's wine library documents the evolution of a genre and of a drink that's both agricultural product and art. 

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM -- The UC Davis Library Wine Collection: Origins, Highlights, and Use
Christine Cheng and Axel Borg

The grape and wine collections at the UC Davis Library are widely regarded as the finest in the world. Drawing on rare books and items featured in the special exhibit, Axel Borg, Bibliographer Emeritus, will talk about the breadth and depth of the wine collections at UC Davis as well as how the collections were built. Christine Cheng, Instruction and Outreach Librarian, will discuss the materiality of items and how they are used in the context of instruction.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM -- Collecting Oakland’s Activist Roots: the Black Panthers and Beyond
Lisbet Tellefsen & Alexander Akin

Lisbet Tellefsen, former publisher of the Black lesbian journal Aché, has become a noted archivist of materials from the Black Panther Party and other activist organizations. Many items from her collection are now at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and her papers now reside at Yale University’s Beinecke Library. The recent book “Seize the Time” is based on her extensive archive of materials related to the activist Angela Davis. Alexander Akin, co-owner of Bolerium Books, has gone from producing and distributing material as an activist, to collecting it as a historian (he received his PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 2009), to selling it as a dealer. His recent projects include an emphasis on Asian American activism in the Bay Area. The speakers will feature a selection of original ephemera from Oakland’s many historical social movements, discussing how these materials bring alive the people and events of the past while highlighting their continuing relevance to contemporary society. When working with the relatively recent ephemeral materials of social movements, why do we collect, how do we collect, what do such collections mean for our understanding of the past - and how can a budding collector get started?

7:00 PM -- Doors close in Oakland

-- The ABAA Virtual Book Fair: California Edition will remain open at www.abaa.org/vbf...


Sunday, February 13

11:00 AM -- Doors open in Oakland.

The following presentation will take place in Oakland and can be live-streamed here...

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM -- Sherlock Holmes in Popular Culture
Glen S. Miranker

Sherlock Holmes first appeared in 1887 during the 50th year of the reign of Queen Victoria. No 19th century reader would have thought that this literary juggernaut would be just as alive for 21st century readers as it was for them. This durability is in no small part a result of how profoundly the Great Detective has permeated popular culture. In this presentation, Grolier Club member Glen S. Miranker will explore how Holmes has left his mark on popular culture over the last 135 years in books, radio, movies, advertising and our language.

4:00 PM -- Doors close in Oakland

-- The ABAA Virtual Book Fair: California Edition will remain open at www.abaa.org/vbf...


Monday, February 14

4:00 PM -- The ABAA Virtual Book Fair: California Edition closes.

Tickets

Friday VIP Opening Day admission tickets for the 54th California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Oakland are $25 and are good for return visits throughout the duration of the Fair. Saturday tickets are $15 and are good for readmission on Sunday. Sunday tickets are $10. Free admission for all students with a current valid student ID. Purchase in-person tickets here...

No tickets are required for the ABAA Virtual Book Fair: California Edition. Admission is free-of-charge.

For further information about the in-person California International Antiquarian Book Fair, visit www.cabookfair.com.

For more information about the Virtual Book Fair: California Edition, visit www.abaa.org/vbf