Firsts London Rare Book Fair 2026 Opens with Special Preview Night

Firsts: London's Rare Book Fair opens tonight with an evening preview before opening to the public May 15-17 at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea.

This year's fair has Revolution as its theme, covering numerous angles from politicaland social to science and technology, with more than 100 exhibitors offering books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera over three floors. There is also an extensive talks and tour programme.

Among the highlights is a special exhibition from Peter Harrington celebrating the centenary of the publication of Winnie-the-Pooh featuring a 1926 first edition personally inscribed by A. A. Milne to both his son Christopher Robin and the original Winnie-the-Pooh teddy bear: “For Moonest Moon and Poohest Pooh from their adoring Bluest Blue. Oct. 16th 1926.” The inscription references Christopher Robin’s childhood nickname 'Billy Moon' while 'Blue' was Milne’s own family nickname. The book belongs to a private collection but has been especially loaned for this display.
 
It will be displayed alongside special preliminary Winnie-the-Pooh sketches, including abandoned scene concepts that never appeared in the published book, as well as rare photographs of Christopher Robin Milne with the original Farnell teddy bear bought at Harrods for his first birthday, now housed in the New York Public Library.
 
Other highlights include:

• various stands including The Book Collector magazine on stand H70 on the first floor
• Mrs Cliff's Receipt Book (Nantwich, Cheshire, c.1818) offered by Marlborough Rare Books, an unusually neat manuscript recipe book with recipes including Chicken Panada, Horn Cakes, To Pitchcock Eel, To make a Curry the Indian Way, Cowslip Wine, and Devil’s Pot, and The Pretenders Dish, a concoction of mashed potatoes, beef steak and mutton fat, boiled and fried
• The anti- slavery harp: a collection of songs for anti-slavery meetings (Newcastle. Printed at the Courant Office, Pilgrim Street, by J. Blackwell and Co., 1850), first edition, a rare survival of the first British edition of an anthology of anti-slavery anthems compiled by American abolitionist and novelist William Wells Brown, born into slavery near Lexington, Kentucky, and in 1834, following earlier failed attempts, successfully escaping and ultimately settling in Massachusetts where he was an active participant in local Underground Railroad and regional abolitionist associations, later commencing a lengthy lecture tour of Europe. The first American edition, published at Boston in 1848, sold five thousand copies in less than six months. Offered by Antiquates.
• an excellent 13 volume set of the first edition of The Yellow Book, the decade-defining illustrated quarterly that captured the spirit of decadence and aestheticism and gave its name to ‘the Yellow Nineties’ with Aubrey Beardsley as its art editor. Offered by Bernard Quaritch.
• A letter by Founding Father Thomas Paine offered by Shapero Rare Books from January 1797, written in Paris to Colonel John Fellows who participated in several major battles during the American Revolutionary War. In this letter he discusses his publications and shares his view that George Washington should retire as president.

The talks programme, registration required, includes:

Book Fairs 101: May 15, 11am 

An informal discussion with a panel featuring librarians, academics, and booksellers at the fair aimed at early careers librarians, students at rare book schools, and students of Library and Information Studies courses

Looking After Your Books: May 15, 3.30pm

Led by Dr Francesca Galligan, Deputy Head of Rare Books at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and author of Looking After Your Books

Bookbindings and Book Collecting: May 15, 5pm

With David Pearson, editor of The Book Collector, who has written extensively on bindings, and will draw particularly on his recently published Bookbindings: an illustrated history (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2026) 

A Library of Her Own: Women and their book collections: May 16, 11.30am

A panel discussion looking at libraries owned by women or women who put their stamp on important book collections through the centuries with Melanie Bigold from Cardiff University who is currently working on a research project on women’s libraries and book ownership 1660-1820; Philip Palmer, Curator and Department Head of Literary and Historical Manuscripts at The Morgan Library & Museum who recently co-curated Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian's Legacy; and Jessica Starr from Jarndyce who has an MA in the History of the Book from the University of London.

Modern First Editions: May 17, 2pm

Les Ashton of Ashton Rare Books focuses on a selection of books at Firsts to explain what really makes a book a ‘highlight’, particularly focusing on modern firsts from 1900 onwards.

YABS Student Tour of Firsts London: May 17, 3.30pm

A tour for prospective and previous students of the York Antiquarian Book Seminar, visiting several YABS graduates at stands across Firsts London, led by YABS graduate Stephanie Wynn.