Book Signing and Free Tours at the Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair, Nov. 1-2
This year's Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair will offer visitors an excellent opportunity to find the perfect antiquarian book among thousands brought to the Chelsea Old Town Hall by the 82 expert booksellers. The fair is open to the public on Friday, 1st to Saturday, 2nd November 2013.
On Friday, one of the world's leading experts on exploration and himself a travel book collector, Raymond Howgego, will be signing copies of his latest book Invented and Apocryphal Narratives of Travel. It is a comprehensive guide to invented, imaginary, apocryphal and plagiarized narratives of travel by land, sea and air, from the earliest times to the twentieth century. Although a separate publication, it also serves to complete the author's Encyclopedia of Exploration, a four volume, 3.7 million-word work dealing with voyages ad travels of indisputable historical reality, believed by many experts to be the largest unaided single-author work in the English language. The book costs £105 and will be available on the day. The book signing will take place at 5pm on the stage in the main hall.
On Saturday, visitors to the Fair can sign up to special book tours, designed to guide small groups around the Fair and point out some of the highlights. Specialist dealers will give advice to collectors or those interested in starting to collect books. The 30-minute tours are free, but a small donation to the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association's Educational rust will be encouraged. Timings and tour guides will be announced online nearer the time.
LOCAL LONDON: Discover some of your local history. Books, ephemera and maps on Chelsea & Kensington covering not just decades but centuries. Find some of those books whose authors found inspiration in this London borough—think J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, but also some of the murder mysteries of Kensington resident Agatha Christie. The tour will also include books and prints covering more recent Kings Road residents like the Rolling Stones and Sex Pistols.
FIND THE PERFECT GIFT: With Christmas fast approaching, find a unique gift at the fair. The tour will point out some great gifts that we have spotted, but will also point out what to look out for and why books make such special gifts.
CLASSIC MOVIE BOOKS: You have seen the film, but have you read the book? This tour will guide you through the Fair following a trail of well known film titles—from James Bond Dr. No and Bram Stoker's Dracula, through to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, E. M. Forster's Room with a View and F. Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Travel back in time and remind yourself of those treasures from your childhood days. Hear more about their value today and track down a long lost copy of your favourite book. See some first editions and admire some of the finest illustrations.
BRITISH HEROES: Meet some of the heroes and heroines of British fiction and find some of the best examples of their books. These will range from James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Oliver Twist, Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Eyre and even Harry Potter.
EXPLORERS AND VOYAGES: Learn about some of the best books by or on famous explorers, read all about their voyages and even see some prints or photographs from their travels. Follow Shackleton to the Antarctic, Livingstone to deepest Africa and Isabella Bird to Persia.
Personal Shopping Tour: For the first time, personal shopping tours will be available to visitors, but signing up in advance is essential. This can be done online and is an ideal opportunity for new collectors to find books for their collection with the help of an expert.
The Fair will be open between 2pm and 7pm on Friday and from 11am to 5pm on Saturday. Tours and starting times are to be confirmed and will be advertised on the website beforehand.
Chelsea Old Town Hall is located on the King's Road, (opposite Sydney Street) London SW3 5EE; nearest underground stations are South Kensington and Sloane Square and many buses stop nearby.
Tickets cost £10 (or £15 for two) on the door.
For more details on the fair, please visit www.chelseabookfair.com or follow on twitter @ChelseaBookFair.
