Thursday, November 04, 2010

Book Fair Time in Boston!

Boston's great Biblio-Weekend is drawing ever closer!

The 34th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair will be held Friday-Sunday 12-14 November at the Hynes Convention Center (hours are 5-9 Friday, 12-7 Saturday, 12-5 Sunday).

Browse the exhibitor list (or see selected highlights from among their offerings), check out the cultural partners, and plan to spend your weekend at the fair. As usual there's a wide range of talks as well: on Saturday at 1 p.m. conservators from NEDCC will talk about "How to Cure Smelly Books...", and at 3 p.m. the Ticknor Society roundtable will kick off, this year featuring Alan Tannenbaum on his collection of works by Lewis Carroll; Todd Pattison on his collection of books bound by Benjamin Bradley; and Dan Johnson speaking about his collection of Frank Brinkley's books about Japan.

On Sunday at 1, Michael F. Suarez, S.J., Director of Rare Book School, will speak on "The Ecosystems of Book History: Acting Locally, Thinking Globally." Michael's great, and his talk is not to be missed. Also on Sunday afternoon (1-3), appraisers will be on hand to evaluate your books, &c.

And then there's all the other great things going on over the weekend:

- The Boston Book, Print & Ephemera Show at the Radisson (Saturday, 10-4).

- Skinner's Books & Manuscripts auction (my preview here); auction starts on Sunday at 11 a.m.; previews 12-5 on Friday and Saturday.

- All the goodies in the rare book room at the Brattle Book Shop will be half price from 8-16 November, so be sure to visit the shop if you're in town (go Friday or Saturday, since they're closed on Sundays).

So, rest up and prepare for a tiring but amazing weekend of good books. I'll be around the fair most of the weekend, either browsing the aisles or manning one table or another (RBMS, Ticknor Society, MHS), so do come and say hi.