From June 7 – 9th, 2019, more than 150 dealers from the UK and around the world will gather to offer their rare and beautiful works including books, maps, manuscripts, art and ephemera at the Firsts – London fair.
Firsts – London’s Rare Book Fair is the jewel in the crown of Rare Books London, a multi-location festival celebrating all facets of the rare book trade in London.
Brought to you by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) under the auspices of ILAB, all booksellers and exhibitors at the fair are committed to dealing at the very highest levels and their expertise is second to none.
Biblio is proud to partner with the ABA as the Official Partner for the Firsts – London’s Rare Book Fair 2019.
Here’s another peek at some of the Exhibitor Highlights!
Bookvica
Biblio bookseller since 2016
Located in Tbilisi, Georgia, Bookvica is an antiquarian bookseller specializing in fine books related to Russia and the former USSR, with a goal of covering all aspects of Russian culture reflected in significant books from the 1560s to the 1990s. They represent a wide variety of subjects: from 16th century Old Slavonic books to Soviet Samizdat. Among their primary interests are first editions of Russian classics, important travels and voyages, Avant-garde and Constructivism, translations of world classics into different ex-USSR languages, children’s books, science and economics, music, Russian Americana, autographs and manuscripts. Bookvica participates in international book fairs as members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and The Guild of Antiquarian Booksellers of Russia.
Paternik (1661)
Considered by many to be ‘The Most Important Ukrainian Book of the 17th century,’ this first edition is complete with the folding plans of the monastery caves. Current Biblio listing: $75,000
Ashton Rare Books, ABA PBFA, ILAB
Biblio bookseller since 2015
Ashton Rare Books is a family-owned business in the center of Leicester in the UK. They have been collecting and selling fine copies of rare books for over a decade, specializing in modern first editions, finely illustrated books, and classic children’s fiction.
Gulliver’s Travels (1930)
by Jonathan Swift
This 2 volume set is the first UK printing of the illustrated edition of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, number 190 of 195 copies on handmade paper. This ‘masterpiece of book design’ was illustrated by Rex Whistler, a famous British artist, designer, and illustrator. Whistler died at age 39 while fighting for the British Army at Normandy, July 18, 1944. Current Biblio listing: £6,950.
Stader Kunst-Buch-Kabinett, VDA and ILAB member
Biblio bookseller since 2019
Located in the city of Stade, Germany, outside of Hamburg, Stader Kunst-Buch-Kabinett which translates to ‘Stader Art Book Cabinet’ specializes in art and art history, the avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century, and ephemera of European artists.
Umbra Vitae (1924)
by Georg Heym
This book of posthumous poems is one of 500 numbered copies by the German writer Heym, who died at the young age of 24 in 1912. Heym is known for his representation and influence on early expressionism. This volume is illustrated by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the expressionist painter and printmaker. Kirchner was labeled a ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, who subsequently destroyed much of his work. Kirchner committed suicide in 1938. Current Biblio listing: $11,480
Ex Libris Herwarth Walden (1915)
This bookplate is one of the few handprints signed by Herwarth Walden in ink. Walden was an expressionist artist and art expert, the founder and sole editor of Der Storm magazine in Germany. Walden also opened a theatre, art school, publishing house, and gallery that was the center of artistic life in Berlin. Walden died in a Soviet prison in 1941. Current Biblio listing: $6,888
Fine Book Cellar
Biblio bookseller since 2015
Fine Book Cellar is an online bookstore out of the UK specializing in modern first editions.
The Wind in the Willows (1931)
by Kenneth Grahame
Published by Methuen & Co in 1931, this limited edition The Wind in the Willows was printed on hand-made paper. A presentation copy to the illustrator, Ernest H. Shepard, only 200 copies of this particular edition were produced and signed by both the author and the illustrator. Current Biblio listing: $13,330
Watership Down (1976)
by Richard Adams
Number 12 of 250 numbered copies of this limited edition published by Paradine in 1976 and signed by the author, Richard Adams, and the illustrator, John Lawrence. Current Biblio listing: $5,665.25
Night Shift (1978)
by Stephen King
First edition, first impression of the author’s first short story collection. One of around only 12,000 on the first print run. Current Biblio listing: $4,998.75.
Amy C. Manikowski is a writer living in Asheville, NC.
