November 01, 2023
COURTESY/FINE BOOK FAIRS
The second annual Philadelphia Rare Book Fair will be held inside the historic Trinity Memorial Church from Dec. 7-9. The event features more than 20 vendors specializing in rare books and ephemera.
Book enthusiasts have something to look forward to next month. The Philadelphia Rare Book Fair is returning to Trinity Memorial Church near Rittenhouse Square from Thursday, Dec. 7 to Saturday, Dec. 9. More than 20 vendors will be selling books and ephemera.
The book fair kicks off Dec. 7 with a preview night featuring live music, food, wine, cocktails and other beverages. Entry to the preview event is $50. The book fair is free to enter during the next two days.
The Philadelphia Rare Book Fair showcase reputables rare book vendors from up and down the northeastern United States, including B&B Rare Books from New York City, Capitol Hill Books from Washington and Back Creek Books from Annapolis, Maryland. The event also includes local vendors like Center City bookseller Bauman Rare Books, MacManus Rare Books from Bryn Mawr, Bruce McKittrick Rare Books in Ardmore and Between the Covers from Gloucestor City, New Jersey.
The book fair features a wide variety of rare, out-of-print literature, first-edition copies, autographed books and unique collections and book sets. Rare book marketplaces feel more like a trip to a museum than an afternoon spent perusing Barnes and Noble. It's where you can find books like an 1840 first-edition Alexis de Tocqueville book set for $62,000 or a first-edition copy of Robert Frank's autobiography for $7,500.
The book fair is put together by Fine Book Fairs, an organization founded in 2022 to host and promote book fairs in the United States. The organization's bookselling events are typically hosted in historic buildings. The Philadelphia Rare Book Fair takes place at Trinity Memorial Church at 22nd and Spruce streets, where it has operated as a place of worship and community event space for more than 125 years.
