Britain's Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA) has launched its first virtual book fair, this year's edition of Firsts London. The virtual or online book fair has become the norm where fairs have not been cancelled entirely. Regular fairs are too close for comfort.
Firsts London Online has been timed to occur at the same time as the ABA's originally scheduled Firsts London fair. The dates are set for June 5-7, though items can still be viewed online until June 11. Dealers will be attending from many other countries, including several continental European lands and America. Each will get to feature up to 12 of their highlights at the fair. Here are a few of them:
First edition of Rene Descartes’ first and most famous work ‘Discours de la methode
pour bien conduire la raison, & chercher la verité dans les sciences’ [1637] by exhibitor
Sophia Rare Books.
An album of annotated watercolors by amateur ornithologist Thomas Howitt, drawn
after Alexander Wilson’s ‘American Ornithology’ [1823] by exhibitor Antiquariat Michael
Kühn.
One of only five pages of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club manuscript by
Charles Dickens remaining in private hands [c. April 1837] by exhibitor Peter
Harrington.
Manuscript of Discourse by Sir William Petty made before the Royal Society on 26th
November 1674 to persuade for the scientific use of mathematics to human affairs by
exhibitor Nigel Phillips Rare Books.
Signed Odham’s Press edition in four volumes of Sir Winston Churchill’s ‘My Early Life
– Thoughts and Adventures – Great Contemporaries’ [1947] by exhibitor Paul Foster
Books.
The fair will provide contact details for each dealer to allow for the personal interaction of a book fair, not the impersonal buying of a website. Speaking of the new format, Fair Chairman Pom Harrington said, “Fairs remain an important fixture in the world of fine collectibles and art, and virtual fairs are being embraced by dealers and customers alike. We are delighted to be able to host Firsts London in a digital format this year and provide our exhibitors and colleagues a platform to showcase their items.”
One of the major benefits of the virtual fair is that anyone can attend, from anywhere in the world. There will be many first-time visitors to Firsts London. Even those who planned to attend from afar can now avoid the fears that come with flying on an airplane these days.
Look for the fair to go live at 2:00 p.m. GMT on Friday, June 5. The website to attend the fair is www.firstslondon.com.
Sotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000.
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
