Antiquarian Booksellers' Association
Founded in 1906 and the oldest organisation of its kind in the world, the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association is the senior trade body for dealers in antiquarian and rare books, manuscripts and allied materials in the British Isles. Members are elected to the ABA solely on the basis of proven experience, expertise and integrity. They are required to observe the highest professional and ethical standards. The display of the Association’s badge pledges members to: the authenticity of all material offered for sale the expert and proper description of all such material the disclosure of all significant defects or restorations the clear, accurate and professional pricing of all material the fairness and honesty of offers to purchase. For the last forty years, the Association has run a small number of high quality book fairs. At present there are two major fairs each year. The Antiquarian Book Fair is held at Olympia during the June Antiques and Fine Arts fortnight, and the Chelsea Book Fair takes place in Chelsea Old Town Hall during November. A smaller fair with about 50 exhibitors is also held in Edinburgh each spring. The Association also provides a Benevolent Fund for charitable use to help all UK antiquarian booksellers and their dependants, and also for educational purposes.
President
Angus O'Neill
Vice President
Roger Treglown
Treasurer
Rob Shepherd
Immediate Past President
Michael Graves-Johnston
Council
Deborah Coltham
Tony Fothergill (Ken Spelman)
Oscar Graves-Johnston (Michael Graves-Johnston)
Pom Harrington (Peter Harrington)
Jonathan Kearns
Brian Lake (Jarndyce)
John Randall (Books of Asia)
Anthony Smithson (Keel Row Bookshop)
Graham York
Book Fairs
The International Antiquarian Book Fair at Olympia is the oldest and one of the most important fairs of the trade. The fair is held every year in June, while the Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair takes place in November.
More information
>>> ABA Newsletters
>>> History of the London International Antiquarian Book Fair - Founded in 1958. By Keith Fletcher
>>> Diana Parikian’s Swansong. By Beatie Wolfe
>>> Insider Collecting - A talk given by Keith Fletcher to The Private Libraries Association
>>> A working life: The rare-book dealer - Ed Maggs
>>> Mike Tsang - London Rare Booksellers
>>> Sotheran’s: 250 Years of Bookselling
>>> Sheila Markham - A Book of Booksellers
>>> Alan Shelley (1941 - 2009)
>>> A Life for Rare Books - W.R. “Bill” Fletcher 1906-1996
>>> Half a League Onward. By Percy H. Muir