Are you new to antiquarian bookselling? ILAB bookseller Susan Ravdin has put together a very useful set of articles on how to prepare for a book fair sharing her experience: "...I've been exhibiting at book fairs for over 25 years, and I figure I've set-up over 500 booths in that time..."
Budapest is one of Europe’s leading cultural destinations and is not only famous for its spas, café houses and architecture.
Hungary’s tradition in book culture goes as far back as the 10th century when traveling monks introduced the first codices, not long after the Magyar had conquered and settled in the Carpathian Basin. ...
On Saturday 17th March, the 2018 edition of the annual Stockholm Antiquarian Book Fair will open its doors! We spoke to Mats Peterson, owner of Stockholm's Centralantikvariatet in Stockholm and President of the Swedish association SVAF.
The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF) produced by Sanford L. Smith + Associates returns to the Park Avenue Armory for its 58th edition March 8-11, 2018.
Recognized as one of the world's largest and most prestigious exhibitions of antiquarian books, this eagerly anticipated bi-annual fair gives visitors the opportunity to see, learn about and purchase the finest in rare books, manuscripts, autographs, graphics, photographs and more.
"Nestled in the heart of the Syosset hamlet, New York, is a true treasure trove of musical riches, carefully, and lovingly, curated by John and Jude Lubrano. Since 1977, the dynamic duo have established themselves among the leading international dealers in antiquarian music and dance material. Their collection boasts a tantalising myriad of autograph musical manuscripts and letters of composers; rare printed music; rare books on music and dance; and original prints, drawings and ephemera relating to music and dance. The Lubranos' clientele includes private collectors, and many of the most celebrated libraries and museums of the world." (From Final Note Magazine)
The New York Antiquarian Book Fair returns to the Park Avenue Armory for its 53rd Anniversary. Presented by the prestigious Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the 53rd Annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair is without a doubt, the foremost book fair of its kind.
We've established that some people don't view books as valuable because they're a little difficult to get your head around. To civilians the reasoning behind why one hundred year old book can be verging on priceless and another hovering just this side of worthless can be obscure, seemingly arbitrary and maddeningly opaque. Even when the rationale is explained it often doesn't help. Often what the rare book trade does is take an object with a clearly identifiable function and then deny the object the exercise of its function as a result of financial value. One of the things I hear most often is "If I owned that book I'd be afraid to touch it." I usually respond to this by pointing out that the book in question is four hundred years old, has survived untold wars, plagues and natural disasters in its journey to our hands and is probably a lot tougher than me … not to mention prettier and more useful. This strikes people as strange.
The German composer Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) is best known for his opera "Hänsel und Gretel". He began working on it in Frankfurt in 1890. He first composed four songs to accompany a puppet show his nieces were giving at home. Then, using a libretto loosely based on the version of the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, he composed a "Singspiel" of 16 songs. The opera premiered in Weimar on 23 December 1893, under the baton of Richard Strauss, who called it "a masterpiece of the highest quality". With its synthesis of Wagnerian techniques (Humperdinck had assisted Wagner 1880/81 in his production of Parsifal) and traditional German folk songs, Hänsel und Gretel was an overwhelming success. In 1923 the London Royal Opera House chose it for their first complete radio opera broadcast. Eight years later, it was the first opera transmitted live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Eduard Hanslick, a Bohemian-Austrian music critic, attended the premiere of „Hänsel und Gretel" in Vienna. The former supporter, then severe critic of Richard Wagner published his impressions of Humperdinck's opera in 1894. Adam Bösze has translated the text into the Hungarian language for his blog on rare books and the history of music.
In the year 1927 a library of Baroque literature was auctioned in Munich at Karl & Faber. Nowadays, the catalogue of this auction belongs to the main reference works which are quoted by antiquarian booksellers, bibliographers and auctioneers when it comes to cataloguing literature of that period. Owner of the library was the German Jewish bibliophile Victor Manheimer.
