Today I attended the New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory. The building itself is impressive and beautiful. Yoko Ono, apparently a fan, commented on the event (from the Fair's website): “It is exciting in a way you probably don't expect when you just hear the word "Book Fair." Well, to me it is just as exciting as sitting in the dark of the theatre and watch a horror film! This experience is not horror. But it's just as exciting!”
Most interesting to me were original copies of Strand Magazine, which first serialized the Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as some notable paper/pop out type books and an impressive selection of miniature books.
SHERLOCK!
Nice pic of wildlife photographer Peter Beard, on the cover of a rare edition.
How about this?
Vintage Disney pop-up book "Mickey Mouse in King Arthur's Court" ($2,500).
Fitzgerald
Mr. Jonathan Gesterner, a London based dealer of rare books (Marlborough Rare Books) who had some excellent paper tunnel type books (also called peepshows) and antique panoramas on display.
Miniature books:
This is Suzanne Hamlin, a lovely person who taught me a lot about miniature books today. She and her husband, Ian Kahn, run a fantastic company (meaning they have a lot of things I want!) called Lux Mentis, based in Portland, Maine. I especially love their company graphic (directly below). The Lux Mentis site is well worth a visit if you want to buy a unique miniature book (or a large sized book for that matter).
You can download several catalogs of miniature books on the Lux Mentis website.
A fantastic copy of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, with a sculpted skull built into the binding.
This is my favorite piece from the fair. A souvenir from the 1939 World's Fair. It has a metal embossed cover and an accordion style fold out.
The two pieces below are from The Kelmscott Bookshop, which has been described as "Baltimore's best and largest antiquarian book store". The shop has many specialties, but I was most intrigued by the art books below shown to me by owner and bibliophile Fran Durako.
Parting shot: One of the grand staircases at the Park Avenue Armory.
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