For those looking to upgrade their bookshelves, there’s no greater «if you know, you know» signal than a book not just anyone can buy. And, this weekend, April 3 through 6th, first editions and rare out-of-print texts will be available for purchase at the Park Avenue Armory, where over 200 exhibitors are now preparing to set up stands for the 65th edition of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America’s (ABAA) New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.
Considered the rare and antiques book fair, this is where collectors and enthusiasts converge to find one-of-a-kind copies of books in “every conceivable genre and subject,” according to the ABAA’s site. Alongside the books will be manuscripts, maps, and various ephemera, too.
For those embarking on a journey to level up their bookshelf wealth, a visit to the fair is a must. Not only are there works unavailable anywhere else, the fair is an education for anyone with an eye toward collecting. As welcoming as it is, it should be noted that the fair is absolutely for the purists and the experts with a lot of money to spend.
And though the prices aren’t listed online, consider a few of the highlights from this year’s catalogue, such as first editions of 2001: A Space Odyssey by Clarke, Arthur C., A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, and Moby Dick by Herman Melville, in a red “A” cloth, “the rarest of the first issue binding colours, and more sought after than the more common blue examples.” (And just to give you an idea: Another first edition of Moby Dick, sans red cloth, is currently going for $80,000, which, according to booksellers, doesn’t come close to the price on some items at the fair. Last year, a diamond-encrusted first edition of Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote was listed at $1.5 million.)
Beyond the books, at this year’s fair you can also see an “oval sepia albumen photograph, on original card mount” of Abraham Lincoln, taken by Anthony Berger in 1864, in the “five dollar” pose, which is said to be the one of the most sought-after (“Robert Todd Lincoln,” states the ABAA, called this ‘the most satisfactory likeness’of his father”). And, six signed and original drawings used for “the Limited Editions Club Edition of ‘Pride and Prejudice’,” now timed for the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. The illustrations are by Helen Sewell (1896-1957), who is probably best known now for her drawings used in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s «Little House” books.
If you do attend the fair, booksellers in the community also recommend visitors walk along 66th Street to St. Vincent Ferrer Church, where the Manhattan Rare Book and Fine Press Fair is held the same weekend. Open just one day, Saturday, April 5th, this fair is filled with vendors whose works are rare and exciting and niche, and potentially less expensive than those showing at the ABAA fair around the corner.
For tickets and information, visit nyantiquarianbookfair.com and abaa.org.
