Reading Copy Book Blog

I spent the weekend in San Francisco at the 40^th California International Antiquarian Book Fair. There were over 200 booksellers and the selection of books was amazing. For me, the highlight was a giant illuminated Koran from Aceh, Indonesia: circa 1850. This Koran (pictured) is over 2 feet in width and nearly 4 feet tall, it’s filled with ornate script and color and bound with buffalo hide. This Koran was sold to raise funds for rebuilding after the 2004 tsunami.

Some other great highlights were Che Guevara’s original tourist visa; a handwritten autograph letter from J.R.R. Tolkien; the first Christmas card circa 1843; a copy of Dylan Thomas’ “Selected Writings” autographed for Charlie Chaplin during a night of drinking; first editions of Mozart’s “Magic Flute” and two signed ink drawings by Beatrix Potter.

In addition to browsing books, many people attended the “Rare Books Roadshow” - a book appraisal session hosted by the Northern California Chapter of the ABAA. This was much like the Antiques Roadshow, members of the public brought in their rare books for a free appraisal. New book collectors were offered the opportunity to learn more about collecting in Book Collecting 101 and What’s This Book Worth, both courses were presented by ABAA booksellers. This fair was not just about bookselling, it was also a celebration of the art of book-making. There were several San Francisco area book arts groups that included; book binders, calligraphers, printers and conservators. Each of these groups exhibited their work and provided demonstrations throughout the day, one of the most popular demonstrations was an exhibit demonstrating the art of paper marbling.

This book fair alternates locations each year, next year the fair will take place in Los Angeles, February 15-17.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 3:15 pm and is filed under antiquarian, books, booksellers, fairs & festivals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.