The Philadelphia Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair returns to the city of brotherly love and cheese steaks this month. The dates are June 13 and 14, with the location the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel in the heart of town. The hours are 5:00 – 9:00 Friday afternoon, June 13, and 10:00 – 4:00 on Saturday June 14.
This fair offers a great outing not just for collectors in the Philadelphia area, but throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Book and ephemera dealers from Virginia to northern New England, and even Canada, will be exhibiting. Among the categories of material that will be displayed, are rare and old books, postcards, poetry, prose, political, social, historical, children's series, maps, autographs, prints, posters, World’s Fair, ephemera, and more. John Bruno, of the PBS series Market Warriors, will be available for appraisals ($5 per item) from 1:00-3:00 on Saturday.
Admission to the fair is $7 per person, $3 for those age 12-21, and free with an adult for those under 12.
For those on the West Coast who may find a trip to Philadelphia a bit much, there will be a fair going on in Portland, Oregon, at the same time. The annual Rose City Book Fair also takes place on June 13-14. It will be held in downtown Portland at the Doubletree in the Lloyd District. Sponsored by the Portland Area Used Booksellers Association, it has attracted exhibitors from the Pacific states of Oregon, Washington, and California, along with Utah. Hours on Friday are 2:00-8:00, on Saturday 10:00-5:00. Admission is a very modest $2, or $1 with a can of food for the Oregon Food Bank. Children under 12 get in free.
Shapero Rare Books will be holding an on premises exhibition at their London location from now through June 6. The subject is Russian Peoples, Costumes, and Traditions through European Eyes. Russians have long been something of an enigma to Europeans. Russians looked similar to Europeans, and yet in terms of dress, culture, and attitudes, they were very different. These differences remain today, as the West finds itself confounded by Russian activities with its European neighbors, so contrary to its own values and priorities.
The Shapero exhibition focuses on the 17th-19th century. In the beginning of that period, Russia was practically unknown to Europeans. As time went by, contacts were made, be it through travel, exploration, scientific investigation, or warfare. Russian society became more and more westernized, yet for the general population, their own traditions held sway, a situation not all that changed today. Shapero is displaying books, artwork, and photographs from the past that introduced Europeans to the people of this massive land to their east. The exhibition takes place at their location at 32 St. George Street, with hours being Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
The end of the month will see a return of Masterpiece London for 2014. This fair will run from June 26 – July 2. This is primarily an art fair, but books intersect art, particularly at the upper end, so this fair attracts a few of the top booksellers each year. Among those who will be exhibiting at Masterpiece are Daniel Crouch Rare Books, Peter Harrington, and Shapero Rare Books. Shapero will be displaying at the fair, and earlier at their location, a truly amazing collection of books cum art. It is a complete collection of artist and ornithologist John Gould's bird books. It consists of 12 folio works in 44 volumes, containing over 3,000 hand-colored lithographs. For those wishing to take it home, the complete collection is priced at £1,500,000.
