Portland's Rose City Book and Paper Fair Returns Live on December 10
- by Michael Stillman
The Portland, Oregon, area has faced a tough year. Record heat brought temperatures as high as 116 this summer, their hottest temperature ever recorded. Droughts led to fires, then followed by torrential rains and flooding. Violent protests marred the city for much of the year. And then there is what everyone has endured, the Covid pandemic. Portland needs a break, and some good news. Here it is! After a two and one-half year absence, the live Rose City Book and Paper Fair is finally making its return. That's right. The event will finally be live again after a couple of years in virtual reality. This time it is being called the Rose City Holiday Book & Paper Fair since, instead of its usual annual appearance in June, it will take place in December. Mark your calendars. Pacific Northwesterners will finally be able to attend a live book fair again on Friday and Saturday, December 10 and 11. It's been a long time coming.
In their announcement of the returning fair, the Cascade Booksellers Association said “Booksellers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond will be bringing their best rare and collectible books, ephemera, maps, prints, photographs and more.” A list of booksellers reveals there will be all sorts of material available. Some specialize in books about the American West, but others specialize in fine literature, first editions, private press, cooking, travel & exploration, Americana, Latin America, children's books, science fiction, mystery, signed books, Chinese history, the underground, Mormon history, fine bindings, and much more. Others focuses on different types of material, including maps, manuscripts, diaries, broadsides, prints, catalogues & brochures, photographs, postcards, and ephemera.
One advantage of the unusual timing of this year's edition of the Rose City Fair is that it coincides with the holiday season. You can find gifts for your collector friends or yourself.
Another change is the location. The fair will be held at 100 SE Alder, in Portland, Oregon 97214.
There is one unusual requirement of this year's fair. The pandemic is not yet over, so they will be following some safety protocols, some of which attendees need to follow too. They explain them as follows:
“All staff and exhibitors at the book fair will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and will wear a mask at all times unless they are in one of the designated break areas for exhibitors.
“All attendees will be required to show proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 (at least two weeks post second shot of Pfizer or Moderna, or two weeks post one shot of Johnson & Johnson vaccine), or documentation of a negative Covid test within 48 hours prior to attending the fair.
“All attendees over the age of 2 will be required to wear a face mask at all times while attending the fair. Face masks should consist of two or more layers, and be worn over your nose and mouth at all times. The following are prohibited: masks with exhalation valves; masks made of loosely woven fabrics; scarves, bandanas or anything that easily slips off the face; and face shields alone (masks must be worn under plastic face shields to provide adequate protection). We will have masks available upon request at the door.
“We will implement timed entry and capacity limits during the open hours of the fair, and during the Friday evening VIP event in order to maintain safe social distances.”
I know some people don't like restrictions, but please understand the reason. We lost some booksellers, and undoubtedly many collectors, to Covid, including one dealer after attending a fair at the beginning of the crisis before most realized how fast it was spreading. We don't want to lose any more.
There will be a VIP Preview on Friday evening, December 10, from 6:00 – 9:00 pm. The cost to attend the Preview is $25.
General admission will be on Saturday, December 11, from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. General admission tickets are $5.
For more information, you can go to the Rose City Book & Paper Fair website. Click here.
Gonnelli: Valli Antonio, Il canto de gl'augelli. In Roma, Nicolò Mutij, 1601.
Gonnelli: Moniglia Giovanni Andrea, Il Mondo Festeggiante. In Firenze: nella Stamperia di S.A.S., 1661.
Gonnelli: Alighieri Dante, [Divine Comedy with commentary and Life of Dante by Cristoforo Landino]. Danthe alegieri fiorentino. Venezia, Capcasa, 1493.
Gonnelli: Hieronymus (santo), Vita di sancti Padri vulgariter historiada. Venezia, Otino da Pavia, 1501.
Gonnelli: Ghisi Andrea, Laberinto dato novamente in luce. In Venetia: per Euangelista Deuchino, 1616.
Gonnelli: Gouvea Antonio (de), Innocentia victrix. [China, Canton], 1671.
Gonnelli: Napier John, Rabdologiae, seu numerationis per virgulas libri duo. Edinburgi: Andreas Hart, 1617.
Gonnelli: Ortelius Abraham, Theatrum orbis terrarum. Antverpiae: Aegid. Coppenium Diesth, xx Maii 1570.
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
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
Swann Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 20, 2025
Swann Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 20, 2025
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 20, 2025
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.
Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000
![Gonnelli: Alighieri Dante, [Divine Comedy with commentary and Life of Dante by Cristoforo Landino]. Danthe alegieri fiorentino. Venezia, Capcasa, 1493.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/fc9560f4-73da-4dfd-8070-2fb3b8892dd9.JPG "<b>Gonnelli:</b> Alighieri Dante, [Divine Comedy with commentary and Life of Dante by Cristoforo Landino]. Danthe alegieri fiorentino. Venezia, Capcasa, 1493.")
![Gonnelli: Gouvea Antonio (de), Innocentia victrix. [China, Canton], 1671.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/ebc18788-ba83-4c96-bbc8-fe8f2b287c31.JPG "<b>Gonnelli:</b> Gouvea Antonio (de), Innocentia victrix. [China, Canton], 1671.")
![Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/2214ca86-0dc9-47be-8bc5-99d9f1c2aa1f.jpg "<b>Koller, Mar. 26:</b> Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000")
![Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b8b6a630-a01a-4220-ae77-38540d6c898d.jpg "<b>Koller, Mar. 26:</b> Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.")
