…take me to the fair
(This blog post was written by Lois Black, Curator of Special Collections. It was posted on her behalf by Heather Simoneau.)
Book fairs are fascinating events, which vary tremendously in nature and content. I had the opportunity to attend three such venues over the course of a month, partly out of personal interest, and in part with the goal of expanding the already rich holdings of Lehigh’s Special Collections. I began my journey with a trip to one of the grandest of them all, the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, normally held at the Armory on Park Avenue the first weekend in April. This grand 19th century edifice is a perfect venue for the fair, which encompasses close to 200 booksellers from all over the world. Tomes, ranging from illuminated manuscripts to early scientific works to first editions of the Harry Potter series were exhibited. Counted among my great finds for Lehigh’s Special Collections was a six-volume set of Hazard’s United States Commercial and Statistical Register (1840), a useful compendium of “important information on any issue that might have an impact on business throughout the country.”
The following week I found myself at a very different sort of fair, the Friends of the Hunterdon County Library Book Sale. Proceeds from the sale, which took place in the National Guard Armory in Flemington, NJ, benefit the local library system. In preparation for the event, donations of books were solicited for the entire month of March, and clearly the donation drive was a success – more than 100,000 items were received in time for the sale. To the reader with a voracious appetite for current fiction, the sale was an ideal opportunity to stock up. Authors such as John Grisham, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and Barbara Kingsolver were present in abundance, remarkably well represented by row upon row of hardcover books in pristine condition. It was heartening to see consumers were still reading (even if not retaining in their personal libraries) the printed word. In addition to the thousands of bestsellers represented in vast quantities, non-fiction was also well represented in such categories as biography, travel, and cookbooks.
And most recently, another fair beckoned at the end of April. Long an attendee of traditional book fairs, I found this event to be an eye-opening experience. Thinking it would offer a treasure-trove of documents relevant to local and regional history, I was surprised to learn that its content was varied and the event attracted participants nationwide. The Great Eastern U.S. Spring Antique Book, Paper, and Advertising Show (or Allentown Paper Show as it is familiarly known), was a two-day event that took place at the Agricultural Hall, Allentown Fairgrounds. Dealers, representing a vast range of material and experience, exhibited items ranging from old movie posters to rare books to artifacts. Artifacts and colorful advertisements caught the eye of many attendees. And the postcards. Oh, the postcards. This Special Collections Curator has not seen quite so many in her lifetime.
There are indeed treasures to be found at each of the venues, and whether you attend as a serious consumer or curious visitor, I encourage you to sample the atmosphere at each just for the experience. The possibilities are endless – and doors may be opened to inspire new initiatives, hobbies, and interests.…
LF Black