The CA International Antiquarian Book Fair, New Venue in Oakland
OAKLAND, CA—The world’s preeminent celebration of the written and printed word returns to Northern California next year at a new venue in downtown Oakland. The 48th California International Antiquarian Book Fair will run from Friday, February 6 through Sunday, February 8, 2015 at the Oakland Marriott City Center.
Sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the three-day event is the world’s largest antiquarian book fair with more than 200 booksellers from the United States and around the globe. The annual Book Fair features a rich selection of books, manuscripts, maps and other printed materials, including incunabula; literature from all centuries and nationalities; fine bindings; children's and illustrated books; ephemera; and antiquarian books on dozens of topics.
This year’s Book Fair will include highlights from the Special Collections of the F.W. Olin Library at Mills College. This exhibition will feature approximately forty books and manuscripts. Several of the collections that will be highlighted include the Darius Milhaud Collection, the Albert M. Bender Papers, the Jane Bourne Parton Collection of Books on Dance, the Bookbinding Collection, the Early Printed Books Collection, the Patti Smith Collection, and the Fine Press and Artists’ Book Collection.
The Book Fair’s schedule will also include the following:
- Saturday seminars with leaders in the rare book world - TBD. Please check www.cabookfair.com for updates and information.
- Book Collecting 101 - Learn from the experts how to create a strategy for collecting books, as well as how to spot a “first edition,” judge a book’s condition, and learn bookish terms and jargon.
- What’s This Book Worth? - Experienced ABAA members will discuss the primary factors that give books commercial and monetary value, as well as strategies for appraising and selling books.
- Discovery Day - This is the public’s chance to discover if those old books gathering dust are worth something. The public will receive free, expert oral appraisals on up to three books.
The Book Fair’s new venue in downtown Oakland is an added convenience for bibliophiles. The Oakland Marriott City Center is just steps away from the 12th Street BART Station, making it easily accessible to attendees from San Francisco and all over the East Bay. Out-of-town visitors will appreciate staying onsite at the Marriott, plus fair visitors arriving at both Oakland and San Francisco airports can take BART directly to the new venue.
Moreover, downtown Oakland is within easy walking distance to diverse and eclectic cuisine, hip nightspots, historic Old Oakland, museums, Lake Merritt and the waterfront at Jack London Square. In fact, Oakland was recently named by the New York Times as the number five destination to visit in the world; by Thrillist as America’s fifth most “hipster” city; and by ArtPlace America, which named Oakland one of the top art destinations in the world.
Tickets and Information
The 48th California International Antiquarian Book Fair will be held at the Oakland Marriott City Center at 1001 Broadway in downtown Oakland from 3 p.m. - 8 p.m. on Friday, February 6; 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 7; and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 8.
Three-day admission tickets are available at the door on Friday for $25. Tickets purchased on Saturday and Sunday are $15 and all tickets allow return admission for the remainder of the fair. For more information about tickets or exhibiting, visit www.cabookfair.com. All tickets will be available to purchase online for a pre-event discount.
For more information about the 48th California International Antiquarian Book Fair, please visit the website at www.cabookfair.com or the ABAA website at www.abaa.org; or call Fair Managers, White Rain Productions at (415) 962-2500, (800) 454-6401.
