By Bruce McKinney

This month the American east coast plays host to seven of the ten book fairs identified to us. In Europe the summer is apparently more a time to get away than to browse bookshops so there only one event is scheduled, the Ilkley Book Fair in the UK.

The biggest single event is the Comic-Con in San Diego. If you attend this show you’ll learn that comics are no laughing matter. The promoters are expecting 125,000 people. The largest book event this month is the Hollywood Book Festival held in the shadow of Beverly Hills. They are expecting a paltry 30,000. Oh well, this is California.

On the American east coast the month begins with the Lenox Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Fair on the 5th. It's a transitional event with 30 exhibitors. In 2009, in refurbished quarters, it will be quite a bit larger. Friends of the C. H. Booth Library of Newton, Connecticut sponsor a book-buying extravaganza running from July 12th to the 16th [A separate story on this event appears elsewhere in this month's AEM] On the 19th there is a one day reunion of book lovers at the Book & Advertising Show in Allentown, Pennsylvania. On the 25th and continuing through the 27th the Roanoke Valley Antiques Expo in Roanoke, Virginia provides solace and satisfaction for the middle Atlantic states.

On the 26th there is the 18th Annual Antiquarian Book Fair at Searles Castle in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. For those within driving distance this is an opportunity to spend a day in a fine summer place, to find good books and good food. Tanglewood is nearby. The castle is historical, the town appealing, the booksellers serious.

On the same day and for one day only, on the Rhinebeck Fair grounds in Dutchess County, New York there is the Rhinebeck Antiques Fair. Franklin Roosevelt lived nearby, Martin Van Buren, President from 1837-1841 was born just up-river, George Clinton, Vice-president under both Jefferson and Madison was born just down river. Alton Parker, unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President against Theodore Roosevelt lived just across the Hudson in Ulster County SO maybe you’ll find something interesting. The area is steeped in history.

The month concludes in Concord, New Hampshire with The New Hampshire Card & Paper Show on the 27th.

For those who wish to visit all the events, and assuming you start from Chicago here's your mileage:

Chicago to Boston 853
Boston to New Haven 91
New Haven to LA 2521
LA to Philadelphia 2400
Philadelphia to San Diego 2365
San Diego to Richmond 2252
Richmond to London 3,755
London to Hartford, CT 3,372
Hartford to Dutchess County 80
Dutchess to Concord, NH 130
Concord, NH to Chicago 850

The total mileage is 18,669. Remember that bags and packages now cost extra so you may want to have them shipped. Shipping will, in most cases, also save you sales tax.