Rare Book Monthly

Articles - March - 2012 Issue

Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair March 24th

Book fairs - the new main street for booksellers and book buyers

Book fairs - the new main street for booksellers and book buyers

The all-day third annual Sacramento Antiquarian Spring Book Fair will be held in Sacramento, California at the Scottish Rite Temple on March 24th.  The hours are 9:45 am to 5:00 pm.  Dealers from around the state and several from more distant places will be offering a variety of materials spanning the entire range of works on paper.

More than fifty dealers are expected as is a strong turnout of buyers and browsers.   Jim Kay, the show director recently expressed optimism about this fair while expressing caution about book fairs generally.  “There are fewer Main Street dealers.  These days our fairs and others are the new if temporary Main Streets.  It’s different but efficient for both buyers and sellers.”

Mr. Kay is an effective promoter and casts his promotional net widely.  “My job is to bring the audience in.”  Recently it was announced that the Gold Rush Book Fair, the annual May event at nearby Grass Valley, had been shuttered.  Mr. Kay’s response has been to redouble his promotional efforts.

Tickets are available at the door for $5.00.  Promotional offers and tickets are also posted on Mr. Kay’s website:  www.sacbookfair.com.

For those interested to exhibit you are encouraged to contact

Jim Kay, Fair Director 
Box 22913
Sacramento, CA 95822
bookbomb@att.net
916-849-9248.

A few booths remain.


Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
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    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
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    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
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    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
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