There are some interesting possibilities to visit book fairs during August and September. For those on Cape Cod, August quickly starts with the Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival on August 1-3rd, on September, the Library of Congress National Book Festival (September 6th), the Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago (September 6-7), the Mississippi Book Festival (September 13), and the Baltimore Book Festival (September 13-14) and then the Brooklyn Book Festival (September 14-22), and the Empire State Rare Book and Print Fair (September 26-27).
Beyond book fairs in the United States, there are 3 scheduled overseas.
Beyond book fairs, 140 collectible paper auctions are in the offing in August. For September, the full schedule won’t be published until later in August.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.