New "California Young Book Collectors' Prize" announced!

The Northern & Southern California Chapters of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America would like to announce "The California Young Book Collectors' Prize".

Most great collectors started when they were young, and most great collections started with a passion for a particular object or subject. When these objects are books and manuscripts, the collectors are called bibliophiles, or lovers of the book. The love of books continues unabated today, despite their increasing rarity and the rapid growth of digital media. Some might even argue that the printed page has taken on a new meaning and cultural resonance in our era of computers and electronic texts.

In recognition of the next generation of bibliophiles, the Northern & Southern California Chapters of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America have created The California Young Book Collector’s Prize.

The competition is open to collectors aged 35 and under who are living in California. All collections of books, manuscripts, and ephemera are welcome, no matter their monetary value or subject. The collections will be judged on their thoroughness, the approach to their subject, and the seriousness which with the collector has catalogued his or her material.

The winner of the competition will be awarded:

1. A gift certificate of $500 to spend at the 2019 California International Antiquarian Book Fair

2. An exhibition of the winner’s collection to be presented in a showcase at the book fair

3. A stipend of $250 towards exhibition expenses (to help cover travel costs, showcase labels, and insurance)

4. And a year’s membership to the Book Club of California

The deadline for submission is December 1st, 2018, and the winner will be notified by January 5th, 2019.

The exhibit will be at the 52nd California International Antiquarian Book Fair held in Oakland, CA, from 8-10 February, 2019; the winner will be responsible for insuring his or her collection and for setting up the exhibition on February 7th and taking it down on the evening of February 10th. The showcase will be for exhibition only; no parts of the collection can be offered for sale during the fair.

To participate in the competition you need to submit the following materials as a .pdf file:

1. Your age and contact information, including mailing address, telephone number, and email.

2. A statement of no more than 1000 words concerning your collection. This should include a summary of your collection; your reason for forming the collection; a description of one or two of your most prized items (supported by photographs); and a description of a few desiderata, those works that you lack, but hope to find one day to add to your collection. All items in the collection must be owned by you, the collector.

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Submissions should be sent as a .pdf file to Ben Kinmont, Chair of the Northern California Chapter of the ABAA, at bkinmont@gmail.com no later than December 1st, 2018.