The Virtual Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair: September 11th -14th
- by Bruce E. McKinney
It seems only a year ago that book fairs were in-person experiences. Ah, for the old days. Covid-19 changed the stakes and the rare book field has had to actually answer the question; you want your money or your life. And the answers are: they want both - their lives and interesting printed material.
The solution has quickly become the electronic book fair.
Marvin Getman, the show promoter, now month by month, is developing this selling approach into an art form.
For this month’s iteration Marvin is presenting his Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair in the fully electronic form he has been developing. As is now standard, until it’s considered safe, book fairs are electronic until sometime in 2021 when and if dealers and collectors venture out of their homes to meet in person. For now electronic affairs seem to be satisfying both sides of the market.
As well, now here are some changes and new features as well as an additional day with some fresh inventory to reward the attentive:
Up until now, Mr. Getman had been limiting his monthly fairs to 150 dealers, with a growing waiting list, demand was so high for the Brooklyn Fair that he decided to raise the limit to 200+. That means that with a limit of 15 items each, there will be 3,000 items to browse.
“With so many items to browse I made the decision recently to add a fourth day and to make things exciting for the last day, dealers will be loading 3 fresh items into their booths for a total of 600 fresh items. The show will now end on Monday September 14th at 6:00 pm EDT.”
Dealers represent The United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, and Australia. Getman’s Virtual Book Fair is truly becoming an international affair. His platform will soon be used by shows across the U.S. for RareBooksLA, The Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar benefit Book Fair, The Fox Valley Antiques Show in Chicago, The Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair, and The Amsterdam International Antiquarian Book Fair.
The Brooklyn Book Fair will open at noon EDT on Friday September 11th and continue around the clock through Monday September 14th at 6:00 pm EST.
Admission to the show and webinars are free with registration. Link here.
The webinars are:
Special Guest: Michael Horse, aka Deputy Hawk, from the cult television series “Twin Peaks.”
Michael Horse will appear live at the Brooklyn Antiquarian Book and Paper Fair to give a seminar on American Indian ledger art and alternate worlds in his artwork. A small exhibition of his art and jewelry will be on display as well at the fair as well.
Horse is of Yaqui, Mescalero Apache, Zuni, European, and Hispanic descent. His mother trained him in the flat style of painting promoted by Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School known as ledger art. (She was also a potter and a kachina carver.) As a young man, Horse studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts (also in Santa Fe) with painter Fritz Scholder, sculptor Allen Houser, and potter-turned-jewelry-maker Charles Loloma. He eventually built a successful career of his own as a sculptor and jewelry-maker, working the fairs, markets, and Native American arts festivals, and has also built an impressive catalog of ledger art that includes an alternate history of America and a symbol-heavy map used in “Twin Peaks: The Return” (2017).
Exclusive Exhibition:
“Appeal to the Great Spirit: Designing the Beach Boys”
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Fonsie Mealy’s Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale April 30th & May 1st
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1:The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.