Florida Antiquarian Book Fair - 2025 - Part Two

The book-gasm that is the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair continued its two-day extravaganza in St. Petersburg today.  Words simply cannot possibly convey just how magnificent this show really is - it is a book lover's ultimate dream, to be able to spend hours and hours in a room filled with more books than you could possibly look at in a year!  The show is put on by FABA (Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association), who realize just how important it is to preserve ideas and our cultural heritage of the history of civilization as we know it - they see significance in context, finding books that contain histories and first accounts; but they also study fiction and how it reflects and influences its cultural context - and how the ways in which we put things on a page have changed, how language has morphed and patterns of thought have shifted.  Great books preserve, for us, humanity in its most basic and in its loftiest forms.  As Bettina Drew wrote, "The past reminds us of timeless human truths ... and is the basis for self-understanding."  And there is no greater reminder than those books we hold so dear!

 

One of the things I love about the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair is that, while it does offer a plethora of books of all kinds, it also provide attendees with other paper ephemera, such as maps, postcards, art, prints, photographs, and numerous other paper products from throughout history.  New World Maps, Inc., from Lake Worth, has been selling original antique and collectible maps for over thirty years, with some of the maps in their inventory being over 400 years old!  While some of maps they had for sale depict the world as we know it now, others are so old they show the "Old World" as man thought it existed hundreds of years ago!  Along with the many maps of all sizes and colors, they also had a limited number of books for sale which, not surprisingly, dealt with maps and the history thereof.  This just goes to prove that at the FABF, no matter where your interest lies, you are definitely going to find it there!

 

And speaking of finding interesting things, over the years that I have been coming to the Book Fair, I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Mike Cotton, with Back in Time Rare Books.  Mike is members of both FABA (the Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association) and ABAA (not the singing group, which is spelled slightly different, but rather, the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America), meaning he has a wealth of knowledge and a superb selection of great books!  Some of his favorite items that he brings to the show are his pulp paperbacks and special magazines - "I'm a sucker for magazines which feature first appearances of authors such as Stephen King," he says.  But one of the select items that caught my eye upon entering is booth was the first printing of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird that he had for sale!  Now that's a true classic that would make a great addition to anyone's collection!  (While I did not pick up that first printing, I did walk away from his booth with one of those pulp novels, as well as an unused coloring book and a Crazy! magazine!)

 

Just across the aisle from Mike's booth, I discovered another ABAA member. Keith Botelho and his Crow Hop Rare Books traveled to Florida from Woodstock, Georgia to provide book lovers with a wide selection of African-American and LGBTQ+ material, some of them dating back quite a few decades!  Talk about having history right there in your hands!  Keith showed me a signed Muhammed Ali playbill for a play the boxer performed called Buck White in the George Abbott Theatre in New York back in 1969.  He also had a collection of 64 African-American Inmate Cards (including one female prisoner) from the Atlanta Prison Farm (1947-77), which operated from the 1930s until (shock!) the middle of the 1990s and in which the manual labor of the inmates on the farm produced food for themselves and those at the main penitentiary.  Where else in the world can you find such unique looks at our history like this?

 

This year also provided me the opportunity to meet Eric Albritton, with Ed's Editions Bookstore.  Another dealer with a wide selection of books, including a signed copy of With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge.  He also had photo albums from the 1800s and World War I era, along with other military books, such as a 1918 book about the Red Baron (look out, Snoopy!).  Eric indicated the most popular books that people have been looking at are those about the clans and tartan of Scotland, as well as a Jerusalem Bible illustrated by Salvador Dali!  Now there's something you don't see every day!  But Eric had something at his booth that held special interest for me - a Free Mason's Handbook by William H. Drew that was barely bigger than the height and width of a man's hand, dating back to 1867; and right beside that was a pair of Masonic hymn books from 1916.  As my Dad is a Mason, I am always intrigued when I find antique books about the brotherhood - my dad would have loved to see those items.

 

Another dealer that caught my eye was Reagan Bisharat with Reagan's Rare Books out of Virginia.  His booth was filled with beautiful leather-bound books of all kinds, and I have to admit - I'm a sucker for the beauty of those old leather-bound volumes.  They simply do not craft book bindings like that any more!  One book in particular was the two volume set of The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution by Charlemagne Tower, Jr., LL.D., published by J.B. Lippincott Company back in 1895. Just looking at that dark red/brown leather binding is enough to get a collector excited - but to look inside and find a handwritten letter (in French, which neither Reagn nor I could read!) signed by La Fayette himself (!!!!) that dates back hundreds of years, perfectly preserved in between the pages of the book - now that, my friend, is a true treasure, indeed!  Reagan got his start when he received an 1880 copy of Charles Spurgeon's autobiography, which inspired him to find and restore antiquarian books for others to enjoy.  As Reagan said while we were talking, the 19th century bookbinding is a snapshot of history, when they actually took care in binding books.  He also had a collection of Virgil's works in a rare quarto size edition with copper plates, beautifully bound in leather.

 

With so many dealers and so many books, it was virtually impossible to talk with each and every one at the show,  as much as I would have loved to; but, of course, that would have taken a week or longer!  I did manage to sneak in a few moments with my friends, Kerry Johnson and Sharon Kissell, both of whom offered up some wonderful children's series books for sale, and I also had a long chat with Charlie over at Intergalactic Trading Company, from whom I used to buy comics nearly 35 years ago!  Obviously, we had a lot to catch up on.  I also made a quick stop by the Cardtique booth, from Osprey, Florida, where they had a wide selection of old cards, booklets, and pamphlets of all kinds - another reminder that the FABF is more than just books.  And, of course, there was Michael Tormey Books from Fort Pierce, offering up a superb selection of old mystery novels in stunning condition; the Book Bazaar, who had a huge selection of original Oz novels by L. Frank Baum; the Rio Verde Co., which displayed some great children's books (The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough - read it out loud, and you'll catch the meaning of the title!), and the Bookleggers Fine Books, another ABAA member who came to Florida all the way from Park Ridge, Illinois!

 

Last, but not least, I would be remiss if I did not mention one particular book that I saw at the show that I would absolutely love to have for so many reasons.  I saw a copy of the book at last year's show, and I was attracted to it because the cover art reminds me of the original cover to The Hidden Staircase (1930), the second Nancy Drew mystery.  However, the copy that I saw at this year's show has an even greater reason to be sought after - it is a copy that was owned and signed by H.P. Lovecraft, most famously known for creating the Cthulu Mythos!  The book alone, with its cover art and uncanny tales of horror inside, is worth finding - but add to it an autograph by Lovecraft, and you have something that I was literally salivating over (well, okay, not literally, as I would not want to dribble on the book and damage it, but you get my drift).  Something like this only shows up once in a lifetime, and while I was not able to purchase it, I definitely felt privileged by just having the opportunity to see it!

 

Each year, it is always bittersweet to reach the end of another show.  I could spend another week or more going through all of these booths, breathing in the smell of those antique pages, taking in the beauty of those painted covers and leather bindings, talking with fellow collectors and dealers about our shared passions.  Of course, with one show over, it just means we only have one year to wait until the next show and our next opportunity to find some amazing books! To stay updated, you can check out the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair website (Florida Antiquarian Book Fair) or follow them on Facebook (FABF - Facebook) or Twitter (@FloridaBookFair).  

RATING:  10 hard-to-find copies of Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? out of 10 for another amazing show with the opportunity to purchase some new additions to my own ever-growing collection of books!