Stuttgart Rare Book Fair Returns to Kunstverein for 2024
Stuttgart Rare Book Fair opens later this month with international booksellers heading back to the Württembergischer Kunstverein from January 26 to January 28 following a break due to the pandemic and renovation works at its traditional venue in 2023.
The fair, organised by the Verband Deutscher Antiquare e.V. (German Antiquarian Booksellers' Association), has been held continuously in Stuttgart since it was founded in 1962. It offers the entire spectrum of the rare book and graphic art trade, first editions and bibliophile editions, fine press, manuscripts, graphic art, photographs, maps, manuscripts and autographs.
"We are excited to be returning to the Kunstverein in 2024, to celebrate books and manuscripts with colleagues from around Europe right in the cultural heart of Stuttgart,” said Alfred Pasternack of Quaritch, London, long-standing Stuttgart exhibitor, founded by the German Bernard Quaritch. Laurens Hesselink of Forum Rare Books in the Netherlands, another long-standing international exhibitor added: "Hopefully, the makeover of the building and the efforts by the Stuttgart organisers will bring visitors and dealers back from all over Europe and beyond."
Around 60 German and international rare bookshops and galleries from Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Denmark will be present in the newly renovated rooms of the Württembergischer Kunstverein on Stuttgart's Schlossplatz.
This year, the Stuttgart Rare Book Fair is focusing on the subject of provenance. In co-operation with the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart, a special exhibition - Bücherleben – Bücher erzählen ihre Geschichte (The lives of books - Books tell their story) and a panel discussion will both look at the current requirements in antiquarian bookshops and libraries.
"Bookshops, publishers, libraries and events such as the Stuttgart Rare Book Fair occupy an important place in our cultural landscape," said First Mayor of the City of Stuttgart, Dr Fabian Mayer. "I look forward to January 2024, when people who are all passionate about books, their content, but also their creation and their history, will meet in Stuttgart."
