2010 - Toronto Preview

“After love, book collecting is the most exhilarating sports of all.”

A. S. W. Rosenbach

The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada is pleased to announce the 2010 ABAC Toronto International Antiquarian Book Fair which will take place from the 29th until the 31st of October 2010 at Canada's premier venue, the Metro Toronto Convention Center. We feel that Toronto is an excellent choice for an antiquarian book fair in 2010 as Canada weathered the economic crisis better than the other G8 countries and Canada because of our natural resource wealth is on track to become the wealthiest capital nation in the world within the next 15 years.

After a fifteen year hiatus, this outstanding show will again bring booksellers and bibliophiles together for a three day event. Sponsored by the ABAC, it joins the prestigious New York, California and Boston fairs on the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers’ (ILAB) North American calendar. As the only international antiquarian and collectible book fair in Canada, the TIABF is attracting exhibitors from across Europe and North America.

All exhibitors are members of their national associations and of the ILAB and are, therefore, among the world’s foremost booksellers. They will bring a wide ranging selection of books, maps, prints and manuscripts for your perusal - including travel and exploration; natural history, science and technology; children’s and illustrated; fine press and limited editions; modern first editions and signed volumes; antiquarian and incunabula; as well as interesting and unusual books of all kinds.

Whether you are an experienced or novice book collector, a librarian or an archivist, a scholar or an academic, or are simply interested in books and the book arts in general, you will find something to your taste. We invite you to visit the fair, explore the booths, and purchase the treasures on display. Come and enjoy the show at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in Toronto. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and is part of a densely populated region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, which is home to 8.1 million residents (seventh largest metropolitan area in North America) and has approximately 25% of Canada's population. As Canada's economic capital, the city is the home of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's seventh largest, along with the majority of Canada's corporations. The ABAC is committed to advertising and promoting this fair as much as possible and we are targeting on getting between 3000 and 4000 visitors to the fair so that the exhibitors will find the fair profitable for making sales and a fruitful venue for attaining new customers.

>>> "The desire to learn something new every day and an undying passion for antiquarian books" - An interview with Eric Waschke

>>> Official website

>>> Antiquarian Booksellers' Associaton of Canada (ABAC)

>>> Not Going for the Jugular - An Interview with Helen Kahn, by Sheila Markham