Rare Book Week Comes to New York City in April 2014

Antiquarian book dealers, collectors, and the intellectually curious will gather in New York City for Rare Book Week from 1st to 8th April 2014 - the largest gathering of its kind anywhere in the world. It is headlined by the 54th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair, which runs from 3rd to 6th April, but is preceded by several rare book and manuscript auctions, including those at Christie’s, Heritage Auctions, Sotheby’s, and Swann Galleries. Several more auction houses, including Bonhams and Doyle New York, will offer collections to round out Rare Book Week after the fair weekend. Rare Book Week also includes The Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair, known as the “Shadow Show,” and The Professional Autograph Dealer Association (PADA) Show.

Called “The Best Book Fair in the World,” the New York Antiquarian Book Fair opens with a preview on Thursday evening, April 3rd, and runs through Sunday, April 6th at the Park Avenue Armory where over 200 American and international dealers will display an astonishing array of rare books, fine art, maps, manuscripts, and ephemera. The New York Antiquarian Book Fair is officially supported by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB).

Exhibitions on tap during Rare Book Week include part two of the New York Historical Society’s highly successful tripartite series, Audubon’s Aviary: The Complete Flock. This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition follows Audubon into uncharted territories - geographic, artistic, and scientific - as he encountered and mapped new species and grappled with the disappearing illusion of America’s infinite wilderness. The Rose Seder Book - which brings together fifty years of artwork - will be on display at the New York Public Library, and Columbia University is hosting a major exhibition focusing on the career of 20th century maverick publisher Samuel Roth. There will also be a total of four new exhibitions at the Morgan Library & Museum including one dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and entitled The Little Prince: A New York Story. Visions and Nightmares: Four Centuries of Spanish Drawings focuses on Spanish artists and shows examples of the Morgan's pre-eminent master drawings collection. A Collective Invention: Photographs at Play with eighty famous photographs signals the debut of photography as a curatorial focus at the Morgan. Medium as Muse: Woodcuts and the Modern Book surveys illustrated publications from 1890 to 1935. Additionally, The Grolier Club is hosting an exhibition on one of its founders, Theodore Low De Vinne, who was one of the most important American figures of the 19th century book world.

The New York Rare Book Week is coordinated by Fine Books & Collections magazine. “Throughout the year, there are book fairs, auctions, and events around the globe,” says publisher Webb Howell. “But you simply cannot find anywhere in the world the confluence of antiquarian book events found in New York during the first week of April.”

Fine Books & Collections will coordinate guest participation in events, including ensuring that people know when and where events are happening. More information about Rare Book Week can be found on the web at rarebookweek.org, where events will be continuously updated and added.