We have examined numerous ways to build a private library for very little money, but thus far we have paid little attention to a really great way to delve into a whole bunch of books at once: book fairs.
The merry month of May is a particularly good time to explore book fairs in your area, since there are some especially interesting book fairs coming up over the next few weeks that folks may find of interest.
If you happen to be traveling anywhere in the vicinity of northern Italy over the next few days, you might want to pay a visit to the Fiera Internazionale del Libro di Torino, which begins tomorrow, May 14 and runs through Monday, May 18. Although primarily a fair for trade publications, the theme of this year's fair--Self and the Others--suggests that a lot of books are likely to be available in specialties we have covered in previous posts. The fair is anticipating 1400+ exhibitors, 13000+ publishers and thousands of independent booksellers, librarians, collectors and others for this event. One of the event's Honored Guests will be Nobel Prize Laureate Orhan Pamuk.
Also beginning tomorrow, a few hundred miles to the northeast, is BookWorld Prague 2009. Although this also will focus primarily on trade publications, one of the fair's multiple themes--Cities in 1989--will examine cities which played a key role in overthrowing communist regimes in Eastern Europe, something that no doubt will be of interest to collectors of the poetry that was inspired by the same events. This fair runs through Sunday, May 17.
A much smaller, non-trade book fair of interest will be held this coming Saturday, May 16, in north-central California. The 9th Annual Gold Rush Book Fair is being held at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, CA, an historic mining town that produced millions of dollars in gold during the California Gold Rush. Only an hour's drive northeast of California's state capitol, Sacramento, the Gold Rush Book Fair will offer visitors the opportunity to explore a number of collecting specialties, including fine press books, a specialty that we have covered in previous posts. (If you are a member of the bibliophilic organization The Book Club of California, admission to the fair is free.)
The following weekend, May 21-24, in the very city where Gutenberg first introduced printing from movable metal type to Western Europe, the 20th biennial Mainzer Minipressen-Messe will take place along the banks of the River Rhine in Mainz, Germany. The fair, which focuses on small publishers and private presses, will feature some 360 exhibitors from 15 countries and expects to welcome well over 10,000 visitors during the fair's four-day run.
A list of local book fairs held around the USA is maintained by the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress. The Frankfurt Book Fair maintains a list of important book fairs held around the world.
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