The ABAA, the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America, completed their 46th California Book Fair on February 17th and has now decamped for homes, offices and shops across the globe. They will next meet in New York in April for the New York Book Fair, their most important event in 2013. The San Francisco fair was well attended. According to Molly E. Glover of Winslow & Associates, agents for the ABAA, attendance was 4,303.
John Crichton, of Brick Row Book Shop, ABAA member and former president, as well as past president of the Book Club of California, when asked about the recent fair, was very upbeat.
“The show had a great feel. There were new faces and lots of institutions, people happy to be here. Access to rare books in shops anymore is almost non-existent. At this fair we see the audience that used to buy in shops come out. It’s gratifying. It’s where we meet the committed.”
Michael Hackenberg, Book Fair Chair for some dozen years, added “I was exceedingly happy. Feedback was very good, dealer to dealer sales brisk. I brought interesting material and much of it found new homes.”
This year for the first time exhibitors could obtain guaranteed locations for a 15% premium and all premium locations were taken.
The number of exhibitors was down, to about 220 this year versus 235 two years ago [this is an every other year event]. The difference was mainly in European participation.
James Bryant of Carpe Diem Fine Books, both a fair committee member and show participant said he had a great show. “From year to year you never know.” He also mentioned that the buying was very good. “With shops closed the fair has become a destination for sellers. They have fewer options. We saw a lot and purchased quite a bit.”
About the attending audience he offered, “we were pleased, very pleased, that we got a younger crowd. For the field to have a future we have to have new blood.”
In the same vein - John Howell, of Los Angeles, exhibited for the first time. He brought a mixture of Fine Press and Artist’s Books, Californiana, Books about Books, Miniature Books, and early printed leaves that reveal the history of book production. “Almost every category sold well, to both younger and older buyers. Sales to the public, institutions, and other dealers were brisk. I couldn’t be happier.”
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
