Buch Wien 2012: The Austrian Antiquarian Booksellers go Facebook, Twitter & Co.

The Austrian Antiquarian Booksellers have set up a new website and present themselves with several highlights at the book fair in Vienna.

Not at all antiquated: the Austrian Association of Antiquarian Booksellers (VAO) introduces its new website to the public at the book fair “Buch Wien 12” from 22nd to 25th November, 2012. The new website www.antiquare.at was developed in collaboration with the Hauptverband des österreichischen Buchhandels as well as with the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and is supposed to be an innovative platform for business, culture and book sciences in and out of Austria – a (virtual) space for networking, interaction and interdisciplinary exchange.

New website, new platform

The new internet presence not only communicates news from the association, of international auctions and events, but also publishes articles and other contributions on literature, book sciences, contemporary history, arts and culture. “It is of incredible importance for our branch to break new, creative ground”, says Dieter Tausch, President of the Austrian Association of Antiquarian Booksellers, referring to the necessity of a positive and timely approach to new media.

Apart from articles on a wide range of topics, two search engines help visitors of the new website to search for any specific book offered by Austrian antiquarian booksellers as well as to search for antiquarian book-selling companies in Austria. The individual presentations of each company inform about the booksellers’ activities, specialities and offers. Requests and orders can be made via e-mail in direct contact with each company.

Austrian Association of Antiquarian Booksellers on Facebook and Twitter

At the same time the Austrian Association of Antiquarian Booksellers launches their new presences on Facebook and Twitter. Dieter Tausch's mostly German-speaking “tweets” are playful and amusing takes on books, reading, literature, and related topics (https://twitter.com/AntiquareAt).

Bibliophile treasures at Buch Wien 12

Not only in the world wide web, but also on the Viennese book fair Austria's antiquarian booksellers appear with a strong presence. For the first time, 26 antiquarian booksellers organize an exhibition and information stand and present a well-assorted selection of bibliophile treasures; the companies Norbert Donhofer and Meindl & Sulzmann are represented with own stands.

Among the objects to be seen and to be discovered there are:

• The rare German first edition (1908) of Bram Stoker's Dracula (Antiquariat Meindl & Sulzmann)

• An early edition of the popular Italy travelling guide by F. Scoto (1650) with its famous copper engravings (Antiquariat Andreas Moser)

• The magnificent baroque opus of Viennese veduta by Salomon Kleiner (Antiquariat Michael Steinbach)

• The first editions of the two revolutionary scientific articles on the discovery of the DNA structure by Nobel laureates James D. Watson and Francis H. Crick (Antiquariat Matthäus Truppe)

• An extremely rare original photograph of Sigmund Freud with his handwritten dedication to the son of the important French psychoanalyst and Freud's close friend Princess Marie Bonaparte (INLIBRIS Gilhofer Nfg.)

• A christmas children's book by Franz Cizek, the grand doyen of Wiener Kinetismus and art educator at the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule (Antiquariat Weinek)

• Crébillon's „Der Sophia“ in a refined leather binding of the Wiener Werkstätte, designed by Koloman Moser (Antiquariat Johann A. Schantl)

• A Thomas Bernhard presentation copy, dedicated to the grocer („Gemischtwarenhändlerin“) from his book „Holzfällen“, thanking her for lending him money (Antiquariat „erlesenes“)

Detailled descriptions of all objects and pictures can be found on www.antiquare.at. Dr. Hansjörg Krug (Antiquariat und Kunsthandlung Christian M. Nebehay), Hugo Wetscherek (Inlibris Gilhofer Nfg.) and Mag. Joy Antoni (Antiquariat "erlesenes”) will be available at stand no. 229 at the Buch Wien for questions and interviews.

Messe Wien, Halle D (U2 station Krieau)

Opening hours:

Thursday - Friday: 9 am to 6 pm, Saturday: 10 am to 6 pm, Sunday: 10 am to 5 pm

More information on the official websites www.antiquare.at and www.buchwien.at.