Book Dealing in Corona Times
This weekend would have seen the opening of the Salon International Du Livre Rare in the Grand Palais in Paris, but it is of course now postponed to September, 4th to 6th.
Hervé Valentin, President of SLAM, announced that SLAM will create a Virtual Grand Palais on the fair website, this special catalogue will launch on the 23rd April at 5pm, when the fair would have originally have opened until May, 24th 2020. The 194 booksellers, print & drawing galleries, publishers and craftsmen will show a preview of their selected pieces and their own catalogues. It will be an opportunity to “browse through pages of the virtual catalogue in form of a flip-book, where you can buy from your living room.” “It will be a very practical opportunity to keep the link with ...collectors alive,” and can be viewed on www.salondulivrerare.paris.
We are looking forward to visiting this virtual fair and can only encourage everyone to do the same. This is certainly the time where we all have to make the most of what the internet has to offer and keep the antiquarian book world going.
This week, it was also announced that the 2020 Brussels Rare Book Fair had to be postponed until June next year due to the continued uncertainty over how long the prohibitions associated with Covid 19 will continue. The fair would have taken place from the 18th to 20th June.
The ABA has been featuring highlights from their dealers in the run up to their main fair for years and it has proved a successful addition. It is certainly worth having a look at firstslondon.com with new highlights being added regularly.
The PBFA is launching its first ever Online Only Book Fair on 29th April at 12 noon on www.pbfa.org. Members have been invite to each select 3 books from their stock that have not previously been on the PBFA website. Each book is illustrated, and just like a normal book fair, you deal directly with the exhibitor selling the book. If this fair is deemed successful then the PBFA will run further virtual fairs on a monthly basis.
The PBFA had earlier announced that all its fairs will be cancelled until June and the London Antiquarian Book Fair will return in May 2021, the good news is that the Edinburgh Premier Fair and the UK Fine Press Book Fair have been rescheduled for November and the Oxford Premier to October.
So, lots to look forward to in the Autumn and plenty of online fairs and catalogues to discover!