Mixed in with the many books at the fair you can also find rare maps, prints, photos and sometimes items so unique they are hard to categorize.

There were several standout items for me at this fair, and just choosing a few to share was challenging. Here are just a few of the items I loved:

By far, my favorite at this fair was a small illustrated songbook manuscript presented by White Fox Rare Books, which can also be found on AbeBooks, Cahier de Chansons Commence en Captivite Le 1/10/1941.

The manuscript was made by Leo Osteng, a French prisoner held in a German POW camp during World War Two. Vibrant and lively illustrations accompany the hand written song lyrics.

White Fox Rare Books also brought along another of my favorites, a Monogram Album with Monograms Incorporated into Watercolors and Ink drawings. Monogram albums were common place in the Victorian era. People would cut out and save the crests and monograms found on letters and envelopes they received and then past them into albums. Some books were very simple and others more detailed and decorative, such as the one I found at the New York Book Fair. There are many great examples of Monogram albums on the AbeBooks site.

Lux Mentis Books always has unique books and ephemera and this time they brought some beautiful miniature books, each one no larger than a few inches.

The art historian in me loved this small, untitled but signed oil painting by poet E.E. Cummings that Massachussetts bookseller Ken Lopez brought to the fair.

If you’re interested in paintings by E.E. Cummings, there are many more on the AbeBooks site.

This is just a small sample of the incredible books and ephemera that you can find at an antiquarian book fair. Everything you see at the book fair is accessible and available to handle, and there’s nothing quite like picking up a book that is being sold for $10,000.

What I love most about these fairs is the friendliness and accessibility: although there are many high-priced books, there are also always items for new collectors, and the booksellers are more than happy to answer your questions and help you enter the world of collecting.

Guest post compliments of Maria Hutchison, AbeBooks Account Manager for our rare and collectible segment.

Walking into an antiquarian bookshop is a bit like opening a treasure chest; you never know what you are going to find and there are always hidden gems. I love knowing that I can walk into these stores and find something that I know has had a long and interesting life and belonged to people that cared enough to preserve and share them.

One of the shops I visited was Argosy Books in midtown Manhattan. Argosy Books was founded in 1925 and is now in its third generation of family ownership. There are books on the shelves, books in stacks and piled on tables. All combined with great lighting and small pops of colour from flowers placed throughout the store to make you feel instantly comfortable and welcome.

Argosy specializes in Americana, modern first editions, autographs, art, maps & prints and books about the history of science and medicine. If those aren’t up your alley, you will also find many other books in a wide variety of topics and with a wide variety of prices. If you have the time and you’re in New York, Argosy is definitely a store you should visit.

Another shop I visited was the Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore on Madison Avenue. This store evolved from The Complete Traveller Bookstore which was the first travel bookstore in the US. As the name states, this shop specializes in collectible travel literature and has one of the best collections of authentic Baedeker travel guides. Baedekers are considered to be the first modern travel guides and can be easily identified by their distinct red cover. The books were treasured for their detailed historic accounts and the many fold out maps they contain.

This is a unique and specialized shop and definitely worth a visit if you love travel, history and culture.

No visit to New York is complete for me until I visit The Strand. Strand never disappoints and I always walk away with at least one, well really several books. This time I came home with something for my children, but I love it too: This is New York by Miroslav Sasek. We love these books in my house and have many others in the This Is…. series.

Most people know that Strand is a great place to go for affordable books, but it also has a fantastic Rare Book Room. Hop in the elevator and go up to the 3rd floor, and you’ll walk into a room filled with lovely old books, many of which can be found on AbeBooks.

Strand also has many affordable and collectible signed first editions. The day of my visit, they were getting ready for a book signing and talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz, discussing his newest book This is How You Lose Her.

Bookstores in New York offer a slice of history and small pieces of beauty that will draw you in and make you love books even more.

Guest post compliments of Maria Hutchison, AbeBooks Account Manager for our rare and collectible segment.

From 11:00 am until 4:00 pm, senior member of the American Society of Appraisers Allan Stypeck (who also bought Second Story Books in 1973) will offer free appraisals. Eligible items include books, autographs and manuscripts, and there is a limit of five items per person.

Appraisal requests and questions about book value and book worth are among the most frequent queries we receive here at AbeBooks. For Second Story to be offering a day of free appraisals is a lucky thing indeed to book collectors in the Maryland area. If you can get there, don’t pass it up!

For more information, check the Second Story web site at http://www.secondstorybooks.com/

Discover the books from the diverse sellers located in one of America’s most bookish cities. More than 40 booksellers from Portland, Oregon, sell on AbeBooks and you can browse through their combined selection of new, used and rare books. If Paris is for lovers, Portland is a city for readers.

If you’ve never been to Powell’s, for instance, you might be surprised at the sheer size of it – so large there are maps to help guide you through the enormity of the booklover’s paradise. And it’s only one of the literary landscapes Portland has to offer.

From Powell’s Books to antiquarian specialists, there’s something for everyone in this city.
Onward, to Portland!

Christi, a member of our North American team recently travelled to our German office and visited this wonderful bookshop in Nuess, near Dusseldorf.

The bookshop is called Neusser Antiquariat. They’ve been in business for over 30 years, and spcialize in rare and collectible volumes, especially illustrated and art books. As well as capturing some lovely photos (above) of the beautiful shop, Christi also took some great footage, so we are all lucky enough to get to remotely browse the stacks for rare and collectible treasures. Enjoy.

How are they doing this? For every bookstore and library event added to LibraryThing Local from now until January 1, LibraryThing will donate up to 15 cents to put books in the hands of the needy.

Who gets helped? Your local bookstore or library gets the word out about their events (for free), and LibraryThing will donate to a literary charity… the exact charity is still being discussed by LibraryThing members and you can join in on this discussion here

How do I list an event? Simply go to LibraryThing Local and choose “Add event” there or under a specific venue (bookstore or library). You need to have an account on LibraryThing to add an event but this is free to try, and highly recommended.

Why should I list an event? Because it’s free, easy, and everyone wins; bookstores, libraries, readers, authors, and charities.

The whole process is VERY easy, I just submitted a book signing for an old friend Andrian Chamberlain who is launching his new book Ollie with a signing at Munro’s Books here in Victoria in a couple weeks. You can list any event happening at any bookstore or library around the world.

For more information about LibraryThing and this local project you can check out their blog post, hopefully you all submit an event and help get some more folks out to our local bookstores and libraries.

Now go list some events

David Mason Books has been in business for 40 years and is home to over 60,000 books, including 19th century British and American literature, modern first editions, Canadian literature, science, travel & history from the 18th to 20th century, fine bindings and much more. If you find yourself in Toronto, be sure to stop in for a purr with the cats and your next great read!

Here is a preview in the Vancouver Sun.

I saw some true gems including a copy of The Vicar of Wakefield illustrated and signed by Arthur Rackham, the first French edition of Captain Vancouver’s journals from 1800 (printed two years after the English edition),  lots of collectible children’s books, a few Britain in Pictures books, art books, lots of British Columbia themed books and Canadian literature. Most of the sellers are from Vancouver and its suburbs and Vancouver Island although there was one seller from Winnipeg. The Alcuin Society is also at the fair and we had a great chat with Markus Fahrner, a freelance book designer, and also his wife who was running the cloakroom in a very efficient manner.

Here are few snapshots from the fair on Saturday afternoon.

Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland, NBL, United Kingdom is located in a superb Victorian former railway station.

We see that with books, often, too – old bindings are recycled to become clutch purses, cigar boxes, hiding places and more. The repurposing of a thing into a new thing is inspiring, and cyclical, and I always love discovering creativity around it.

Today on Flavorwire there is a list of 10 bookstores that have sprung up in unused structures – an enormous former theater from the golden age of movies in Argentina, an abandoned glove factory in Detroit, even a former manure tank in Wisconsin – these spaces and more have been revitalized, refurbished and recycled into unique and wonderful bookstores. There are bookstores in boats and churches, cellars and attics, funeral homes and bakeries. There are mobile bookstores, too, towed behind bicycles, packed into trucks, pulled by horses and camels and rickshaws – if you will not come to the books, perhaps the books will come to you.

Books will find a way.

See the list and images of the converted bookstores at Flavorwire.

We have a wide variety of booksellers in terms of both size of operation and specialty, and we love the opportunity to put a name and a story to some of the titles we see. This one is from Mary Lacey of Nana’s Treasured Books in Andover, Kansas. She’s only been with AbeBooks a couple of months and wrote to tell us how she came to find herself a bookseller.

Hi, My name if Mary Lacey with Nana’s Treasured Books. I am new to abebooks – about two months.

My husband has always loved books and we personally have several shelves full of books. I had been looking for something that we could do together as we approach retirement age. As life would have it, I met a young couple at a garage sale that gave me nearly 2,000 books. It did not take long for me to fall in love with researching and reading everything I could find about the books I had been given. Now I regularly go to different places in the community, sales, and online sources and look for older, collectible books and first edition/1st print copies of books that others have discarded.

I decided from the very beginning to learn all about this business that I could and about authors and their books. As I learn more about listing books, I update my descriptions online accordingly. I try to price competitively, but at a price that anyone can afford to enjoy these special books. My favorite books to review and research are children’s books, especially the illustrated ones. I have a 5-year-old grandson and love to share these special treasures with him. My greatest moment when reviewing the first books I received was finding a signed copy of Chanticleer and the Fox by the illustrator Barbara Cooney. That started my love of illustrated children’s books. I try to provide collectors and those buying just for the love of reading with alot of detailed information and pictures so they know what they are buying. I am surprised by the number of bookstores that include very little information in their descriptions. As a consumer, I would never buy books from online sources unless they had provided sufficient information for me to know what I was purchasing. I expect excellent customer service from merchants I personally deal with and expect nothing less from myself. This is a difficult business to start, given the economy, but I intend to continue learning, working hard, and learning the correct marketing skills to bring customers to me, and provide them with the excellent customer service that will bring them back. I have found AbeBooks to be incredibly helpful and their staff pleasant and knowledgeable. I am optimistic for the future that all the hard work now will pay rewards for the future, as well as assist in preserving the history of books.

Mary Lacey
Nana’s Treasured Books