The younger fans of the book fair

These fun-loving people were at the 2013 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. We came across their picture the other day and it reminded us that the book fair appeals to all ages.

Granted, their attendance probably helps skew the average age of fair-goers a bit lower but it's a welcome trend we're seeing year-after-year. And why not? Love of traditional books certainly isn't limited to the silver-haired crowd. It's a trend being noted at book fairs all across the country. Indeed, Booktryst observed a couple of years ago the large number of young people seen walking the aisles at the California International Book Fair, and even imagined them becoming passionate book collectors.

Four years ago,  Sally Burdon wrote on the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) blog about seeing young collectors at the Hong Kong Antiquarian Book Fair. And last year, Chris Volk, writing in the IOBA Standard, the Journal of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, noted seeing "lots and lots of young adults" at places like the Los Angeles Times Book Festival and the Tucson Book Festival.

For years, the doom and gloom set have been predicting the demise of printed books, but we're not having any of that theory. From our observation and what we're seeing around the country, the young of America (at least some of them ) are discovering a passion for antiquarian books. We're thrilled.

Grover Cleveland and the Mugwumps

Love that headline. (Sounds like an early '60s rock band.)

We spotted this poster at the 2013 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. It must have been delicious discovery for students of American political history. It's from the presidential campaign of 1884. Grover Cleveland and Thomas Hendricks ran against James G. Blaine and John A. Logan. Household names, all. ;-)

Okay, so Grover Cleveland may be one of the more obscure presidents in American history. Still, as any history major will tell you, there's an interesting story there, even for civilians.

Seems Cleveland won that election because of the Mugwumps. (Now there's a term you don't hear every day but you might have come across it sometime or other.) Cleveland was a Democrat; in fact, he was the first Democrat to get elected president since Reconstruction after the Civil War. Six terms the Dems were out of office, and Republicans ruled the roost.

Anyway, the reason Cleveland won: Mugwumps. They were renegade Republicans who took a dim view of their candidate's financial scandals (railroads had paid him off to dispose of mortgage bonds and land grant bonds for them). So the Mugwumps decided to buck the system and support Cleveland. They were ridiculed as fence sitters, political creatures with their mugs on one side of the fence and their "wumps"on the other.

So, the point of all this?  It's just another illustration of the amazing items you'll find at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. Okay, so maybe 130-year-old political ephemera isn't for everybody but this kind of thing will thrill some people.  We know a history prof who'd love to get his hands on something like this.

Stay tuned. In future posts, we'll have more examples of the kinds of must-have items you're likely to find at the 2014 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

You never know what you'll see at the book fair

We were looking back through some of the photographs taken at the 2013 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair last March and we came across this delightful little scene that had slipped our minds.

It looks like Marlowe has made a new friend. Marlowe the puppy came with Sunday Steinkirchner and Josh Mann of B&B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA in New York. Sunday and Josh will be back for the 2014 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair next March. Betcha Marlowe comes, too. 

Anyway, we thought we'd share this little vignette of cuteness. It was delightful surprise not only for us but for many fairgoers who saw it in person. That's what we love about the book fair. You never know what you're going to see. One year a couple of the dealers burst into a spontaneous fiddle concert. (We'll have to dig that out of the archives and share it sometime soon.)

The point of all of this, of course, is to remind you to expect the unexpected at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

Florida Antiquarian Book Fair: What dealers say

We asked dealers who participated in the 2013 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair to tell us about their experiences. Here is some of what they shared with us.

Florida Book Fair: A collector finds what he wants

Here's a word from bookseller Ken Hebenstreit of Royal Oak, Michigan, one of the rare book dealers you'll meet at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. Florida Antiquarian Book Fair, March 8-10, 2013 at The Coliseum in downtown St. Petersburg. The Florida Antiquarian Book Fair is the southeast's oldest and largest antiquarian book fair. It features more than 115 dealers in books, maps, photographs, prints, ephemera and autographs. You can find rare books, collectible books and out-of-print books at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. BUY TICKETS ONLINE | GET MORE INFORMATION

Florida Book Fair: It only happens once a year

Here's a message from Tom Congalton of Between the Covers Rare Books in Glouster, New Jersey, one of the rare book dealers you'll meet at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. Florida Antiquarian Book Fair, March 8-10, 2013 at The Coliseum in downtown St. Petersburg. The Florida Antiquarian Book Fair is the southeast's oldest and largest antiquarian book fair. It features more than 115 dealers in books, maps, photographs, prints, ephemera and autographs. You can find rare books, collectible books and out-of-print books at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.  BUY TICKETS ONLINE HERE | GET MORE INFORMATION

Win FREE Book Fair tickets!

WIN FREE TICKETS! Did you get a Florida Antiquarian Book Fair t-shirt last year? Now is the time to wear it around town. Send us a picture of you wearing your t-shirt and you'll be entered in our drawing for two free tickets to the 2013 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

E-MAIL YOUR PICTURE to floridabookfair@gmail.com. Include your name and address, and a phone number to contact you. Tell us where you were and what you were doing.

NEED A T-SHIRT? You can order a Florida Antiquarian Book Fair t-shirt online. Send an e-mail to floridabookfair@verizon.net. Tell us how many shirts you want, and what sizes (S, M, L, XL, XXL) you want.

PAY ONLINE: Shirts are $11 ($12 for XXL) plus $3.50 for shipping and handling in the continental United States. For overseas addresses, please include $12 for shipping and handling. (If you are ordering more than two t-shirts, please e-mail us before making your payment so that we can calculate shipping costs). You can pay online at PayPal. Use floridabookfair@verizon.net. Here's the link.

Why come to the Book Fair?

Share this with the book lover in your life. Here's the link to the 2013 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair event on Facebook. You can find more information about the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair here.