When the book trade meets in New York

5 March 2019: ILAB Symposium "WHO OWNED THIS? Libraries and the Rare Book Trade consider issues surrounding Provenance, Theft and Forgery"

The week will start with a much anticipated symposium on provenance issues, organised by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, ILAB, hosted at New York's Grolier Club.
ILAB is bringing together a range of experts and scholars from the antiquarian book trade, libraries and investigation officials to inform and give advice to those attending the symposium.
Many ILAB affiliates are faced with the increasing demands from institutions to have strong provenance on materials they buy. Booksellers need to know how to deal with this, and have a good understanding of what information libraries need. Attending libraries will have an opportunity to hear how these issues affect our trade and what the trade is doing about provenance, stolen books and theft.
The symposium has been booked out for many weeks. However, a video will be produced during the symposium and uploaded to the Grolier Club's Vimeo channel shortly after the event took place.

7 March 2019: Opening of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair

Booksellers across the world exhibit at this leading event of the rare book trade. The New York Antiquarian Book Fair is officially sanctioned by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. The fair is a true treasure trove, hosted at New York's Park Avenue Armoury.
Over 200 American and international dealers will exhibit at fair, bringing a vast selection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts and ephemera. The diversity of specialties includes art, medicine, literature, photography, autographs, first editions, Americana, and much more.

To see a list of exhibitors, please follow this LINK.
The New York Catalogue can be viewed HERE.

Lecture Series & Events at the fair

Lectures and talks are hosted at the fair. The talks range from a Special Collections Roundtable in association with the RBMS to issues such as "Books, Estates, & Deaccession: Finding Your Library's Next Home".

Saturday evening sees the ABAA Women's Initiative Networking Event at the fair. For more information, please get in touch with the ABAA office.

And there is more! New York Rare Book Week sees a lot more events

New York City Book & Ephemera Fair 2019

9 - 10 March 2019 at Sheraton Times Sq./Central Park

Website: www.bookandpaperfairs.com

The Manhattan Vintage Book, Ephemera & Fine Press Book Fair
9 March 2019 at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, 869 Lexington Avenue at 66th Street
Website: www.flamingoeventz.com

Grolier Club New York

On Tuesday, 5th March, the Grolier Club will open an exhibition on German typographers and calligraphers Herrman and Gudrun Zapf: Alphabet Magic: Gudrun & Hermann Zapf and the World They Designed

Not to be missed when escaping the hustle and bustle of the fairs for a while.
Website: www.grolierclub.org

New York Centre for the Book Arts

Anyone with an interest in book history and the art of the book, should visit the centre and its regular exhibitions, talks and workshops.

Particular highlight this coming week, coinciding with International Women's Day:
Lisa Baskin, ILAB bookseller and well known for her collection and publication "Five Hundred Years of Women's Work" will be one of the panelists at the talk

9 March: History of Art: Women in Publishing #WIP / A Feminism of Book History
More info HERE

Bard Graduate Center

And yet another NY exhibition will focus on typography. Well-known Czech typographer Jan Tschichold and his work in Weimar during the Bauhaus years form the centrepiece of an exhibition at the Bard Graduate Centre. Jan Tschichold and the New Typography Graphic Design Between the World Wars
Website: www.bgc.bard.edu

We asked ILAB booksellers: "What keeps you coming back to New York?"

Since I joined the ABAA about 25 years ago, I’ve never missed exhibiting at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair. The range of material rivals many museums and for the most part you are encouraged to handle and examine it. The attendees range from penniless scholars to billionaires to rare book librarians and curators to A-list celebrities. Anything can happen at the New York Book Fair! Tom Congalton; Between The Covers Rare Books, US

One of the main reasons I keep coming back to the New York fair is because of the quality and rarity of the books on sale, and the fact that I like a challenge. I feel like the participating dealers bring only the best of their stock, their `top range books`, to New York, and being surrounded by such books is, to me, a very rewarding experience. Ryu Sato; Kagerou Bunko, Japan

For me taking part in the New York fair is a no-brainer. The fair is well attended both by private and library customers and showcases exceptional books in all fields. Due to its present location on the Upper East Side (and let's hope it stays there) it does attract new visitors every year, which can lead to real surprise sales. Susanne Schulz-Falster, UK

The New York Fair is an unavoidable fair for the book trade. Eva and I decided to be faithful to promote our good literature and our continental bibliophily. Hervé Valentin; Librairie Walden, France

See you very soon in New York!