49th CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR, 12-14 FEBRUARY 2016
Even if you are not a collector, if you have ever read a book, it's a place to go to find out what you haven't read, or just what you haven't seen or didn't know exists."
Tony Bill, Actor, Director, Producer, Book Collector
From February 12 to 14, 2016, thousands of book lovers, rare book dealers, and scholars will converge at the Pasadena Convention Center for the 49th California International Antiquarian Book Fair. Recognized as one of the world's largest and most prestigious exhibitions of antiquarian books, the Book Fair gives visitors the opportunity to see, learn about and purchase the finest in rare and valuable books, manuscripts, autographs, graphics, photographs and more.
Featuring the collections and rare treasures of 200 booksellers from the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the Book Fair will present volumes from five centuries of printing, as well as original manuscripts that predate Gutenberg. Books will cover every imaginable area of interest - from the history of travel and exploration, early science and medicine to classic literature, modern first editions, children's and illustrated books, and the arts. Items range in price from a few dollars to more than six figures.
"One of my most favorite Children's writers of all time was born on the 27th of January, 1832. Scratch that - one of my most favorite writers, period, was born on the 27th of January, 1832. Many critics of great literature have commented on the fact that one of the most lasting kinds of literature is the kind that speaks to both children AND adults - writers whose works you can read when you are both 5 and 75 and learn something equally important at both of these starkly different ages. It is my super humble (though really awesome) opinion that the writer we honor on this day, on what would be his 184th birthday, is one of those writers. It is perhaps also appropriate that we honor his memory, as in less than a month there will be an ABAA Fair in Pasadena named after some of his most well-known work." (Vic Zoschak)
CONFERENCE AND ILAB POP UP BOOK FAIR IN SYDNEY, 21-23 APRIL 2016
Rare Books: Still So Much to Learn and Discover is a must go to conference for anyone interested in rare books and associated materials on paper. Over two days, subjects such as the building of collections of books and ephemera, research, theft and digitisation will be discussed. Well known author and entertaining speaker Nicholas Basbanes will speak from the USA on the history of paper and the State Libary of New South Wales will offer special behind the scenes tours of the library.
The two-day conference will culminate in another must go to for all who are interested in rare books and manuscripts. After its eminent success in 2015 the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and its worldwide affiliates will once again join the celebrations of UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day with ILAB Pop Up Fairs across the world from Australia to Japan and Korea, South Africa, Russia, all over Europe and to the United States. The first of these fascinating Pop Ups will be held following the Sydney conference on 23 April at The State Library of New South Wales.
Both events are organised by The Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers in conjunction with The State Library of New South Wales.
ILAB POP UP FAIRS ON UNESCO WORLD BOOK & COPYRIGHT DAY
JOIN US ON 23 APRIL 2016
Once again on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day 23 April 2016, ILAB booksellers will bring the books to the people. They will pop up at most busy and most unexpected places, in pubs and restaurants, museums, libraries and publishing houses, in business clubs and on markets, in the streets and on skyscrapers. For 24 hours they will be part of a great chain of books spanning across the world, raising money to support literacy and showing the most beautiful bookish items to people many of whom will have never seen or touched such treasures before.
We are proud to report that ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day 2016 are already planned for the following countries:
AUSTRALIA (Sydney) - KOREA (Seoul) - JAPAN (Tokyo) - RUSSIA (Moscow) - SOUTH AFRICA (Cape Town) - SPAIN (Madrid and Barcelona) - AUSTRIA (Vienna) - HUNGARY (Budapest) - GERMANY (Munich) - SWITZERLAND (Zurich) - FRANCE (Paris, in cooperation with the International Rare Book & Autograph Fair at the Grand Palais) - BELGIUM - NETHERLANDS (Amsterdam and Groningen) - DENMARK (Copenhagen) - SWEDEN (Stockholm) - UNITED KINGDOM (London and Oxford) - UNITED STATES (New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland).
Help us make the great chain of 2016 ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs even more impressive! Join us, look for an exciting venue in your hometown - and organize it!
ILAB CONGRESS AND INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR
BUDAPEST 21 - 25 SEPTEMBER 2016
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the Hungarian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, I kindly invite you to the 42nd Congress of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, which will take place in Budapest between 21 and 23 September, 2016. I am very proud that we, the Hungarian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, have the honour to organise this prestigious event, and I promise to do my very best to ensure that all participants can take home an enriching experience with them. It makes me especially happy to be able to welcome you at the FIRST BUDAPEST INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR from 24 to 25 September, related to the ILAB Congress, both as visitors and as exhibitors. Please, watch the video on Youtube and kindly accept my invitation. I am looking forward to meeting you in Budapest, on 21 September 2016!
Ádám Bosze, President of the Hungarian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association
The vast majority of ILAB booksellers sell through the Internet. This does not mean that they have given up selling through more traditional methods (paper catalogues, book fairs, open shops, direct offers to customers, etc.); selling through the Internet is just another means of working. Whereas the vast majority of ILAB booksellers would definitely refuse selling all their wares through a middleman at book fairs, through their catalogues, etc., they find it very natural to do so online.
In the digital age, it is no secret that calligraphy is a dying art. Why work laboriously and imperfectly on something that takes days to cross the country, when the computer will set it in flawless text that can be transmitted instantly? A careful look at the grand history of handwriting is not kind to the craft, either. Some historians consider Gutenberg's press, the very device that liberated us from writing by hand, to be the single most important invention of the second millennium. Not only did it make books more accessible, it gave the works themselves unprecedented longevity. Think of all the masterpieces of antiquity (if you can bear) that were lost to rot and ruin because scribes could only produce a handful of them at a time. Aeschylus wrote some eighty plays, of which only seven survive. Shakespeare may have suffered a similar fate, as a writer who luckily had the printing press to immortalize his works - he leaves us with nearly nothing written by hand. We can condemn handwriting for its inconveniences and inefficiencies. But that would mean ignoring the many hands that have worked and worked to provide us with our reading, our fulfillment, our culture.
"One of my most favorite Children's writers of all time was born on the 27th of January, 1832. Scratch that - one of my most favorite writers, period, was born on the 27th of January, 1832. Many critics of great literature have commented on the fact that one of the most lasting kinds of literature is the kind that speaks to both children AND adults - writers whose works you can read when you are both 5 and 75 and learn something equally important at both of these starkly different ages. It is my super humble (though really awesome) opinion that the writer we honor on this day, on what would be his 184th birthday, is one of those writers. It is perhaps also appropriate that we honor his memory, as in less than a month there will be an ABAA Fair in Pasadena named after some of his most well-known work." (Vic Zoschak)
Once again on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day 23 April 2016, ILAB booksellers will bring the books to the people. They will pop up at most busy and most unexpected places, in pubs and restaurants, museums, libraries and publishing houses, in business clubs and on markets, in the streets and on skyscrapers. For 24 hours they will be part of a great chain of books spanning across the world, raising money to support literacy and showing the most beautiful bookish items to people many of whom will have never seen or touched such treasures before.
Dear Colleagues,
The vast majority of ILAB booksellers sell through the Internet. This does not mean that they have given up selling through more traditional methods (paper catalogues, book fairs, open shops, direct offers to customers, etc.); selling through the Internet is just another means of working. Whereas the vast majority of ILAB booksellers would definitely refuse selling all their wares through a middleman at book fairs, through their catalogues, etc., they find it very natural to do so online.
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