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Articles - November - 2025 Issue

Boston “Shadow Fair” Has Come Full Circle and Reports Full House

- by Bruce E. McKinney

Boston “Shadow Fair” Has Come Full Circle and Reports Full House

The annual Boston “shadow show”, now promoted by MW Book Fairs, has come full circle since its beginnings almost 30 years ago at the Pilgrim Garage just up the street from the current location at the Hilton Boston Back Bay at 40 Dalton Street.  Long-time exhibitors in the Boston show scene such as Peter Stern, William Hutchison, Peter Luke and Richard Mori will be on the “shadow” floor again this year and can relate stories of the early days when portable toilets were brought into the Pilgram Garage and monthly parking tenants were removed from the basement for the show to proceed.  This year’s fair is set for November 8 at the Hilton Boston Back Bay, with hours from 8 am to 4 pm.  Dealer comfort is a top priority at the current Hilton venue, with well-appointed show space (including modern bathrooms), comfortable sleeping rooms, a great restaurant, breakfast buffet, and parking on-site, with the promoters offering a dealer breakfast first thing on the day of the show. 

 

MW Book Fairs, a collaboration between Duane A. Stevens of Wiggins Fine Books ABAA and Richard Mori of Richard Mori Books, has registered 50 respected and experienced antiquarian book, ephemera and photo dealers for this year’s show that promises to be one of the most eclectic shows in years.    While dealer retention from last year is high, Richard and Duane are pleased to welcome several new dealers, including: Pico Banerjee, who hails from Lewiston, Maine and was the winner of the "shadow fair" half-booth auctioned off at this year's CABS conference, with generous support also from Garrett Scott;  Owl of Minerva will be joining us making the trip up from West New York, NJ; Jason Phillips (Phillips and Phillips) will be coming down from Rochester, NH; Buzz Bookstore is coming from Maryland; the Joe Fay Company from Connecticut;  Laureate Fine Books from Vermont and winners of a partial booth scholarship as 2025 CABS graduates; Second Wind Books from New Haven, CT; and  Peter Forman of Custodians of History from Plymouth, MA and several others have signed on.  MW Book Fairs wishes to welcome these dealers who will bring an eclectic range of fresh material and add to the diversity of the fair.  

 

At this year’s fair MW Book Fairs will again host the ABAA’s Diversity Initiative and welcome two enterprising prospective members of the trade and their ABAA mentor/guide who will tour the fair and meet dealers.   In addition, MW will be providing free tickets to all dealers at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair at the Hynes Convention Center through its collaboration with Capricorn Events, that show's promoter.  Capricorn in turn generously provides free tickets to all “shadow fair” dealers.  Finally, MW has renewed its pledge to again donate a portion of fair proceeds to the ABAA's Benevolent Fund that assists booksellers in times of emergency. 

 

2025 DEALER ROSTER:

The Pages of Yesteryear

Christopher's Rare Books

Town's End Books ABAA

Written Relics

Enchanted Books ABAA

NCC Antiques

Richard Mori Books

Lippincott Books

Val Paul Auger

Steven Schuyler Bookseller

Peek-a-Book Rare Books & Ephemera

Kenneth Leininger

periodyssey

Cardtique

Eyvie Eisenberg

Joe Maynard

John Liberati Books

Phillips & Phillips

Capitol Hill Books ABAA

Buzz Bookstore

Curt Wendler Rare Books

James Arsenault & Company ABAA

gallerybfa ABAA

Courtside Books

The Country Bookshop

Ten Pound Island Book Company ABAA

RJM Autographs and Antiques

Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc.

Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore

Ellipsis Rare Books ABAA

Doyle's Books

De Wolfe & Wood ABAA

Wiggins Fine Books ABAA

Haec City / Also Books

House of Mirth Photos ABAA

William Hutchison

Peter Luke Antiques

Faenwyl Bindery

Second Wind Books

E. M. Maurice Books

The Joe Fay Company

Custodians of History, Inc.

Laureate Fine Books

leaves

  

James Kochan Antiquarian

metafair.com

Ephemera Mountain

Livres Dalleau

Owl of Minerva Rare Books

Imperial Fine Books ABAA

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • <center><b>Sotheby’s<br>Book Week<br>December 9-17, 2025</b></center> <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Francesco Colonna. <i>Hypnerotomachie,</i> Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Nausea. <i>De principiis dialectices Gorgias,</i> and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Billon. <i>Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur,</i> Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000. <center><b>Sotheby’s<br>Book Week<br>December 9-17, 2025</b></center> <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
  • <b><center>Heritage Auctions<br>Rare Books Signature Auction<br>December 15, 2025</center></b> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633. <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Edgar Rice Burroughs. <i>Tarzan of the Apes.</i> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> F. Scott Fitzgerald. <i>Tender is the Night. A Romance.</i> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Bram Stoker. <i>Dracula.</i> Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897. <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Jerry Thomas. <i>How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…</i>
    Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
  • <b><center>Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!</center></b>
    Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

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