The 52nd California International Antiquarian Book Fair at Oakland February 8-10

This, every other year, event in the San Francisco Bay Area returns to the Oakland Marriott City Center in downtown Oakland for a three day run: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 8 – 10. About 200 exhibitors are participating. Dealers from around the world have long made this fair an important stop.

As, in the past years, a variety of enthusiasm-building exhibitions will also be part of the show. They are:

A special exhibit from the Book Club of California highlighting women printers and book artists, as well as a display of some of the Club’s oldest and most sought-after publications
An exhibit on the works of L. Frank Baum from the private collection of Joel Harris, a member of the International Wizard of Oz Club
Information about local library and university collections
Book Arts, such as letterpress printing and calligraphy
Book Fair Finds – select items under $100
Discovery Day – free appraisals for up to three books per attendee
Seminars & Lectures
- Cyclone on the Prairies: The Magic of the Land of Oz
- California Rare Book School's Road Show
- Zamorano Celebrates 90
- Book Collecting 101
- What's This Book Worth?

New this Year!

In recognition of the next generation of bibliophiles, the Fair is pleased to announce The California Youth Book Collector’s Prize, a competition open to collectors aged 35 and under who reside in California. This year’s first prize is awarded to Matthew Wills, of La Jolla, whose collection is on the theme of "Anti-Confucian Propaganda in Mao’s China." Please visit his collection next to the ABAA booth in the Exhibit Hall and congratulate Matthew!

For both the simply interested and the absolutely obsessed the fair is great fun. Book collecting can be a solitary pursuit but when you walk one of the great book fairs you are reminded that you are not alone in your pursuit of appealing material.

Days and Hours