Firsts 2023 short title

Spring Miscellany II: Firsts Selection

Dear Friends and Colleagues

I am delighted to once again be exhibiting at Firsts Online – joining over 60 international exhibitors.

The fair can be viewed at: Firsts Online

A selection of my Highlights can be found here

In addition to preparing for First London, I am also delighted to be participating in the forthcoming ILAB Symposium on Wednesday September 14th 2022, the latest in a series of collaborative events and programmes between libraries, collectors and booksellers examining issues affecting the world of antiquarian books today. Following the successful symposium held at the Grolier Club in New York in 2019, we are gathering in the beautiful city of books and learning, Oxford, and are very grateful to the Bodleian Library for providing the Weston Library Lecture Hall as our venue.

A diverse and very knowledgeable group of booksellers, collectors, government representatives, librarians and law enforcement officers have agreed to share their views on some of the complex and challenging issues faced by those working with antiquarian books and related rare materials today. I am honoured to be taking on the role of Moderator for the day, and also to be one of the speakers for the first session.

Just over a week until the International Book Trade gathers once again, this time returning to London and the Saatchi Gallery for the 65th edition of one of the most popular and prestigious rare book fairs in the world – Firsts London. I am delighted to be exhibiting and can be found at stand I82. It will be lovely to catch up with friends and colleagues from far and wide. I will be displaying my usual eclectic mix of books and ephemera, with items relating to history, the graphic arts, medicine, science, and books by and for women. The theme this year is ‘Banned Books’, and I will have a few related items on display – if not necessarily banned, certainly a few clandestine ‘under the counter’ publications as it were.

Venue:
Saatchi Gallery, London, SW3 4RY

Preview by Invitation
Thursday 15 September: 5-9pm.

Open Hours
Friday 16 September: 11-8pm
Saturday 17 September: 11-6pm
Sunday 18 September: 11-5pm

You can find details of the fair at: https://www.firstslondon.com

Please click here for a short-title listing.

One particular highlight is an early example of a photographically illustrated book created by Josef Georg Böhm- a photographic copy of a 1640s manuscript relating to Tycho Brahe dealing with trigonometry, Photographische copies von Tycho Brahe’s Manuscript. One of only five copies produced, it is currently the only one in private hands – with no copy in the US. It was produced privately in Prague  in 1862 and has a wonderful description by the author of the technical challenges faced trying to take the photographs of the manuscript. For a full description of the book please click Bohm_Brahe

I am delighted to be exhibiting once again at the California Book Fair. The Fair runs from Friday February 11th through to Sunday February 13th and is once again at the Oakland Convention Center & Oakland Marriott City Center.

For a full list of what will be on the stand see California22.

I am delighted to be exhibiting at the forthcoming in-person

 Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair. 

Now in its 64th edition, the Antiquarian Booksellers Association’s fair is taking place for the first time at the Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square, from 21st to 24th October 2021

For a complimentary e-ticket (Friday to Sunday) please click here

Autumn Bulletin – an illustrated catalogue of highlights

Firsts London Short title

I very much look forward to seeing you at the fair and can be found at Stand I61. 

Opening Hours:

Thursday 21st October: 5pm – 9pm (private preview – invitation only)

Friday 22nd October: 11am – 7pm

Saturday 23rd October: 11am – 6pm

Sunday 24th October: 11am – 5pm

Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s Square, King’s Road, London, SW3 4RY

For the second time, the virtual doors of Firsts London Online  are about to open, and so once again may I extend a warm welcome to you all, should you care to pop along for a leisurely browse. The online fair will remain open for visitors and buyers from today until midnight on Monday September 14th, with new items being added daily. Together with 115 international dealers from 16 countries, I have uploaded a number of recent acquisitions which can be viewed on the site. Exhibitor highlights may be changed during the event, and so please do keep revisiting the site.

As the book collecting community comes together once again, albeit virtually for the time being, I am therefore pleased to present my latest catalogue on the theme of collectors and collecting – ‘Wonders Bound’ – A Selection of Curiosities. Predominantly from a private collection, the 40 item list includes Wunderkammers, associated instructional works on how best to transport, preserve, and display the natural and artificial wonders, as well as works on zoological gardens (Moscow, Paris and Berlin), auction catalogues, guide-books, and other curiosities. After a relatively quiet summer, it has been an enjoyable, and often thought-provoking, catalogue to work on, and I hope that it may be of interest.