The Florida Antiquarian Book Fair - a book lovers' paradise! This is one event that I fervently look forward to every year now, and anyone who loves books should know why. The opportunity to walk up and down aisle and aisle of book dealers selling books from hundreds of years ago to just a few years ago - from fiction to non-fiction and everything in-between - from science fiction to mystery to romance to children's series - I'm telling you, this Book Fair has it all! And this year's event celebrates the birthday of one of children's most beloved authors - Dr. Seuss! Check it out at their website (
Florida Antiquarian Book Fair) or on their Facebook page (
Florida Antiquarian Book Fair on Facebook). The show started on Friday, March 1, 2024, and let's just say, I was all in!
Friday is my day to familiarize myself with the booths - visit each booth, check out the books, see which booths have what type of books, mark down which ones have children's series books (of course!), and spend time chatting with the dealers who I have come to know over the years. For those who have never been, you are missing an amazing experience. There are dealers who have children's series - everything from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, to Oz and Harry Potter, to Whitman and A.L. Burt, to aviation and westerns, to Little Golden books and Big Little books, and just about everything in-between. There are dealers who have paperbacks ranging from pulps to sci-fi to film and TV novelizations to romance, and more. There are dealers who have classics, vintage and modern. There are dealers who have books that date back hundreds of years, and there are dealers that have books that date back tens of years. There are dealers who have magazines, coloring books, TV Guides, author correspondence, and other ephemera. If it is book-related, you name it, and you will more than likely find at least one dealer, if not more, that has it. While I go every year with a list of specific books I am searching for, every year I end up walking out of there with books I never even knew I needed or wanted (but which I am glad to now own!)
Thankfully, Fridays are not extremely busy (like Saturdays and Sundays). So, I had the chance to sit and talk a bit with Sharon Kissell, who always has children's series books, among others. We reminisced a bit about Judith Weaver, a wonderful friend who lived in Melbourne and who had an unbelievable library of mystery books - children and adult. I also introduced her to my friend, Will, who came with me to the show this year and who is a fellow series book collector. Will was looking for Judy Bolton books, and, of course, Sharon had some for sale. (For those not in the know, Judy Bolton is a contemporary of Nancy Drew from back in the 1930s, but it ended in 1967 with the 38th book.) However, several of them were far from ordinary Judy Bolton books! A couple of them were actually autographed by the author (Margaret Sutton) to her daughter - definitely something any Judy Bolton fan would love to have in their collection.
But the true gem she has for sale this year is a TRUE FIRST printing of
The Haunted Attic. This is the second book in the Judy Bolton Mystery series, and when it was first published, it had something later printings did not. As die-hard fans know, Judy's birthday is mentioned in the invitation set forth on page 160 of this book and it only appears in this first edition - her birthday is removed for all other printings. I've never actually seen one of these in person, let alone held one in my hands - so, to see this book here for the first time was a real treat! And the dust jacket on this book? While not perfect, it was darn near close! For a book that is 92 years old, it is in AMAZING condition! The colors are vibrant, there is not a lot of chipping as you see in most dust jackets this age. Whoever had this book all these years definitely took good care of it. This is a treasure for any series book collector, and I'm wondering who is going to be the lucky collector who gets to add this book to their collection this weekend?
But Sharon has more than just the Judy Bolton books - series book collectors will also find Nancy Drew books, Mildred Wirt books (including the extremely hard to find
Carolina Castle reprint!), Dana Girls books, Connie Blair , Melody Lane , Hal Keen , Cherry Ames, and even a Barbie book (c'mon - don't tell me you haven't seen the movie yet?!). She even had a copy of Peggy Hertz book on the 1977 television show, as well as a Walt Disney magazine featuring the Hardy Boys. In addition, she has a number of other books as well, so it's not all just children's mysteries. I will definitely be stopping by her booth again this weekend to pick up a few more things.
I know, I know - I seem to be focusing on the children's mystery books, as if that were the only thing at the show. Well, let's remember - that is the focus of my collecting, so naturally, I'm going to gravitate towards those books and to the dealers who have those books at their booths. Yet, I do collect other things, and as such, I do check out other dealers who have other books to offer - such as old pulp, gothic, mystery, and romance novels, as well as Big Little books and coloring books, and even pop-up books (and for those wondering, yes one of the dealers had the Nancy Drew pop-up (of sorts) book.
One of those dealers is Kerry Johnson, who owns The Family Book Shop in DeLand. I've known him ever since he took ownership of The Family Book Shop (I've been going there for years and years!), and he offers such a great selection of books. I've bought a number of gothic novels, as well as some romance and mystery novels from him over the years. For the show, he brought a number of sci-fi and pulp paperbacks (including a couple of
Dark Shadows novels by Marilyn Ross - unfortunately, I already have both of the ones he has for sale). He also has some Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, and Ellery Queen books, as well as some classics and poetry. This year, he offered up some "mystery" vintage books - they were wrapped up in brown paper, each one with a clue as to the book hidden within that paper. It was a fun way to get a vintage book, and let me tell you, those things sold like hotcakes! I'm guessing people liked the idea of purchasing a book without knowing what it will be - like unwrapping a gift at Christmas time!
However, the biggest draw for me at his booth were the two issues of
The Strand magazine that he has for sale. I'm sure everyone knows that
The Strand magazine is where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, gained a lot of his popularity. These two issues (from 1904 and 1923, respectively), feature some important moments in Holmes' history and are definitely 'must-haves' for Holmes aficionados. While I have seen some issues of
The Strand over the years, I've got to admit, I've never seen any that look this good, and I hope they manage to find a good home this weekend. He also has a couple of other issues of The Strand, but I was so enthralled with these first two, that I didn't even notice the others until I got home and was looking at the picture! I guess when I go back tomorrow, I'll take a look at those other issues and see what rarities they might hold inside!
These are just two of the more than 65 dealers at the show - book dealers who come here from all over the country! Today was only a small taste of what is in store for the weekend, and after covering the show floor twice today, I think I've got a pretty good feel of it and know which booths I will be hitting up tomorrow for a more careful search through the books to see just how many more treasures I'll find! Plus, tomorrow is the big Dr. Seuss celebration, and I am looking forward to see what they have planned for the day!
(And if you are wondering whether I made any purchases today, well, let's say I definitely found a couple of great buys to start my weekend right, and I already know of several more I'll be buying tomorrow!)
RATING: 10 red fish and 10 blue fish out of 10 for a superb start to a weekend of antique book hunting!
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