This month the American east coast plays host to seven of the ten book fairs identified to us. In Europe the summer is apparently more a time to get away than to browse bookshops so there only one event is scheduled, the Ilkley Book Fair in the UK.
The biggest single event is the Comic-Con in San Diego. If you attend this show you’ll learn that comics are no laughing matter. The promoters are expecting 125,000 people. The largest book event this month is the Hollywood Book Festival held in the shadow of Beverly Hills. They are expecting a paltry 30,000. Oh well, this is California.
On the American east coast the month begins with the Lenox Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Fair on the 5th. It's a transitional event with 30 exhibitors. In 2009, in refurbished quarters, it will be quite a bit larger. Friends of the C. H. Booth Library of Newton, Connecticut sponsor a book-buying extravaganza running from July 12th to the 16th [A separate story on this event appears elsewhere in this month's AEM] On the 19th there is a one day reunion of book lovers at the Book & Advertising Show in Allentown, Pennsylvania. On the 25th and continuing through the 27th the Roanoke Valley Antiques Expo in Roanoke, Virginia provides solace and satisfaction for the middle Atlantic states.
On the 26th there is the 18th Annual Antiquarian Book Fair at Searles Castle in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. For those within driving distance this is an opportunity to spend a day in a fine summer place, to find good books and good food. Tanglewood is nearby. The castle is historical, the town appealing, the booksellers serious.
On the same day and for one day only, on the Rhinebeck Fair grounds in Dutchess County, New York there is the Rhinebeck Antiques Fair. Franklin Roosevelt lived nearby, Martin Van Buren, President from 1837-1841 was born just up-river, George Clinton, Vice-president under both Jefferson and Madison was born just down river. Alton Parker, unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President against Theodore Roosevelt lived just across the Hudson in Ulster County SO maybe you’ll find something interesting. The area is steeped in history.
The month concludes in Concord, New Hampshire with The New Hampshire Card & Paper Show on the 27th.
For those who wish to visit all the events, and assuming you start from Chicago here's your mileage:
Chicago to Boston 853
Boston to New Haven 91
New Haven to LA 2521
LA to Philadelphia 2400
Philadelphia to San Diego 2365
San Diego to Richmond 2252
Richmond to London 3,755
London to Hartford, CT 3,372
Hartford to Dutchess County 80
Dutchess to Concord, NH 130
Concord, NH to Chicago 850
The total mileage is 18,669. Remember that bags and packages now cost extra so you may want to have them shipped. Shipping will, in most cases, also save you sales tax.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
