Portland's Rose City Book and Paper Fair Returns Live on December 10
- by Michael Stillman
The Portland, Oregon, area has faced a tough year. Record heat brought temperatures as high as 116 this summer, their hottest temperature ever recorded. Droughts led to fires, then followed by torrential rains and flooding. Violent protests marred the city for much of the year. And then there is what everyone has endured, the Covid pandemic. Portland needs a break, and some good news. Here it is! After a two and one-half year absence, the live Rose City Book and Paper Fair is finally making its return. That's right. The event will finally be live again after a couple of years in virtual reality. This time it is being called the Rose City Holiday Book & Paper Fair since, instead of its usual annual appearance in June, it will take place in December. Mark your calendars. Pacific Northwesterners will finally be able to attend a live book fair again on Friday and Saturday, December 10 and 11. It's been a long time coming.
In their announcement of the returning fair, the Cascade Booksellers Association said “Booksellers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond will be bringing their best rare and collectible books, ephemera, maps, prints, photographs and more.” A list of booksellers reveals there will be all sorts of material available. Some specialize in books about the American West, but others specialize in fine literature, first editions, private press, cooking, travel & exploration, Americana, Latin America, children's books, science fiction, mystery, signed books, Chinese history, the underground, Mormon history, fine bindings, and much more. Others focuses on different types of material, including maps, manuscripts, diaries, broadsides, prints, catalogues & brochures, photographs, postcards, and ephemera.
One advantage of the unusual timing of this year's edition of the Rose City Fair is that it coincides with the holiday season. You can find gifts for your collector friends or yourself.
Another change is the location. The fair will be held at 100 SE Alder, in Portland, Oregon 97214.
There is one unusual requirement of this year's fair. The pandemic is not yet over, so they will be following some safety protocols, some of which attendees need to follow too. They explain them as follows:
“All staff and exhibitors at the book fair will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and will wear a mask at all times unless they are in one of the designated break areas for exhibitors.
“All attendees will be required to show proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 (at least two weeks post second shot of Pfizer or Moderna, or two weeks post one shot of Johnson & Johnson vaccine), or documentation of a negative Covid test within 48 hours prior to attending the fair.
“All attendees over the age of 2 will be required to wear a face mask at all times while attending the fair. Face masks should consist of two or more layers, and be worn over your nose and mouth at all times. The following are prohibited: masks with exhalation valves; masks made of loosely woven fabrics; scarves, bandanas or anything that easily slips off the face; and face shields alone (masks must be worn under plastic face shields to provide adequate protection). We will have masks available upon request at the door.
“We will implement timed entry and capacity limits during the open hours of the fair, and during the Friday evening VIP event in order to maintain safe social distances.”
I know some people don't like restrictions, but please understand the reason. We lost some booksellers, and undoubtedly many collectors, to Covid, including one dealer after attending a fair at the beginning of the crisis before most realized how fast it was spreading. We don't want to lose any more.
There will be a VIP Preview on Friday evening, December 10, from 6:00 – 9:00 pm. The cost to attend the Preview is $25.
General admission will be on Saturday, December 11, from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. General admission tickets are $5.
For more information, you can go to the Rose City Book & Paper Fair website. Click here.
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
Sotheby’s Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone 25 June – July 7
Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
