Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (BIABF) celebrates its 47th year at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston’s Back Bay, November 7-9, 2025.   This annual fall event features the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera available on the global market. Sanctioned by the <a href="https://www.abaa.org/">Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America</a> (ABAA) Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the fair’s specialties encompass art, design, music, science, medicine, literature, history, gastronomy, fashion, philosophy, and much more.  More than 100 rare book dealers from Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Serbia, and 22 states will exhibit an alluring treasure trove for seasoned bibliophiles and first-time attendees. Prices range from the millions to the eminently affordable. Whether immaculately preserved or intriguingly weathered, each item tells its own story. Booksellers hold a seemingly bottomless wealth of knowledge, both artistically and historically, about each item in their collections. Whether browsing or buying, the Fair offers something for every taste and budget—books on art, science, fashion, politics, travel, cooking, sport, natural history, first editions, Americana, music, children’s books, and much more—appealing to a range of collectors and casual browsers. From the historic and academic to the religious and spiritual, from the exotic to everyday—the Fair represents every conceivable genre and subject. Attendees will have the unique chance to view and buy rare and historic museum-quality items, offered by some of the most prestigious members of the trade. The event features fine and rare printed materials from around the world, including illuminated manuscripts, modern first editions, ephemera, photographs, maps, and autographs, as well as antiquarian books on a vast array of topics.   “Rare book collecting is taking on new life among younger and more diverse audiences, drawing everyone from rare book connoisseurs to new audiences intrigued by the power of the printed word and image,” says  Julie Roper, CEO of Capricorn Event Management, who has managed the Fair since 2015. “Younger collectors are redefining the concept of collecting and rare books as a whole. What once catered largely to scholarly circles has grown into a full-fledged cultural showcase, elevating itself well beyond a bibliophile’s paradise—this is an event where literary collectibles, academic, and high-end art sensibilities collide.”    For anyone with a passion for rare books, the Fair is an event that pulls you in with the promise of rediscovering the past in ways you never expected. Fairgoers can expect to find one-of-a-kind manuscripts, groundbreaking scientific works, historical Americana, centuries-old atlases and bibles, and signed first editions that hang in the balance between cultural artifact and high-end collectible.   With more than 100 dealers, each with their space filled to the brim with offerings, there is something for everyone to be found at the 2025 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair -- from an impulse-friendly $50 gem to multi-million-dollar rarities. Regardless of the cost, it is the thrill of discovery that unites them all -- finding something rare, beautiful, and timeless. For those wanting to start a collection without breaking the bank, there will be dealers offering “Discovery” items priced at $100 or less. Remarkable finds remind us that at the Boston Book Fair, serendipity is half the thrill -- there’s always a corner table or hidden shelf waiting to impress even the most seasoned collector!   HOURS &amp; ADMISSION Friday, November 7, Opening Night, 4PM-8PM. Tickets: $25 (<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/47th-abaa-boston-international-antiquarian-book-fair-tickets-1316844650799">available online or at the box office</a>) Saturday, November 8, 12PM-7PM. Free admission. Sunday, November 9, 11AM-4PM. Free admission.   LOCATION Hynes Convention Center (Hall A), 900 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115 For information, visit <a href="http://www.bostonbookfair.com/">www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair</a> or call 617-938-8879.

Hynes Convention Center

The Ticknor Society Collectors' Roundtable: Collector-Built Collections in Libraries

One of the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair banner events is the annual Ticknor Society Collectors’ Roundtable. This year's discussion will highlight three distinctive collections, created by passionate and engaged collectors, that are currently housed at three of Boston's most esteemed libraries - the Boston Athenaeum, Boston College's Burns Library and Harvard's Houghton Library. Each speaker worked closely with the collector/donor, or their family in one instance, to bring their collections to these libraries, and they will talk about how the collections were acquired and how they are being used. We will also see some highlights from the collections. MODERATOR: Beth Carroll-Horrocks | Retired Special Collections Curator, State Library of Massachusetts <a href="https://libguides.bc.edu/burns/staff">Christian Dupont</a>, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and Burns Librarian, Boston College, will talk about the Anthony Mourek Collection of Irish Political Cartoons, History, and Culture. <a href="https://library.harvard.edu/staff/leslie-morris">Leslie Morris</a> is Gore Vidal Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts in Harvard’s Houghton Library. The subject of her presentation will be “The Ludlow-Santo Domingo (LSD) Library: Sex and Drugs at Harvard. <a href="https://rarebookschool.org/faculty/history/john-buchtel/">John Buchtel</a>, Curator of Rare Books and Head of Special Collections at the Boston Athenaeum, will discuss the Weston Naef Collection of Counterculture Artists Books at the Boston Athenaeum The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 47th year November 7-9, 2025, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.. For information, visit <a href="https://www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair">www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair</a> or call 617-938-8879.

Hynes Convention Center - online this year!

Boston in Transit: Mapping the History of Public Transportation in The Hub

Join local author <a href="https://www.bostonintransit.com/products/boston-in-transit-mapping-the-history-of-public-transportation-in-the-hub">Steven Beaucher</a>, Co-Founder and Proprietor, WardMaps LLC, for a visually rich presentation featuring rare photographs, maps, and ephemera covering nearly 400 years of public transit history in Boston. Boston in Transit is a comprehensive history of public transportation infrastructure and the modes of transit that have moved Boston for nearly four centuries. This book tells the entire story from the simple ferry serving an English settlement perched on the edge of a new world, through the arrival of steam trains and fleets of electric streetcars and buses, to the creation and evolution of the present-day MBTA. The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 47th year November 7-9, 2025, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.. For information, visit <a href="https://www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair">www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair</a> or call 617-938-8879.

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair Opening Night

Get a first look at items for sale at this festive preview of the Boston Book Fair —an opportunity to browse the collections of U.S. and international dealers and to mingle with other bibliophiles, collectors, museum curators, and special collections librarians. The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 47th year November 7-9, 2025, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes more than 100+ top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.

Visibility Through Invisibility: Black Librarianship in the Early 20th Century

Erica Ciallela, Instruction &amp; Outreach Librarian at Harvard's <a href="https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library">Schlesinger Library</a>, will discuss the history of Black Librarianship in the early 20th century. Belle da Costa Greene left a significant legacy in librarianship. While she was building the now-iconic collection at the Morgan Library, other Black librarians were also making their mark on the field. With their unique paths, individuals like Catherine Latimer and Dorothy Porter Wesley, alongside Belle Greene, contribute to the rich history of Black Librarianship in the early 20th century. Join librarian and former Belle da Costa Greene curatorial fellow Erica Ciallela as we discuss these librarians, explore how each left a legacy, and see how current librarians build on their foundations. Co-sponsored by the Bibliographical Society of America The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 47th year November 7-9, 2025, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.. For information, visit <a href="https://www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair">www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair</a> or call 617-938-8879.

 Edgar Allan Poe: A Life

<a href="https://www.richardkopley.com/bio">Richard Kopley</a>, Distinguished Professor of English, Emeritus, Penn State DuBois, and author of the recent critical biography Edgar Allan Poe: A Life (University of Virginia Press), will introduce and present a series of extracts to depict “Poe in Richmond in 1836.” The extracts will include passages from long-lost letters from 1908. Kopley will offer a description of young Poe, an account of his wedding to Virginia, a rendering of his friend John’s Darby Town farm, a sketch of the Poes’ apartment, a narrative about Poe’s drinking; an elaboration of the joy of the Poes at Darby Town, as well as a passage about Darby Town drawn from Poe’s tale, “Eleonora.” The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 47th year November 7-9, 2025, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.. For information, visit <a href="https://www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair">www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair</a> or call 617-938-8879.

Condition, Condition, Condition: How to Spot a Repair

Join <a href="https://stiltbookcradles.com/who-we-are">​Natasha Herman</a> | Proprietor, STILT® Book Cradle; Fellow, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, for a talk on how to discern the condition of an antiquarian book. Like the humans who make them, books begin aging the moment they’re made. Some aging—like a rich patina—can be harmless or even beautiful, while other forms are more problematic. To understand a book’s condition, we first need to know how it falls apart. This talk will guide you on where and what to look for to read a book’s traces of repair. Together, we will uncover the hidden material histories of books, exploring what kinds of damage truly matter to us as collectors, caretakers, and readers. The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 47th year November 7-9, 2025, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.. For information, visit <a href="https://www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair">www.abaa.org/bostonbookfair</a> or call 617-938-8879.

Collecting on a Shoestring Budget: Books, Sports Ephemera, and Original Art

Over the past six decades, Richard (Dick) Johnson has collected, both as an essential part of his duties as a museum curator at The Sports Museum and as an expression of his passion to search for additions to an eclectic personal collection he started in grade school. In due course, he has assembled one of the best libraries of sports publications in America while also seeking out affordable pieces of original art by artists such as Winslow Homer, Thomas, Nast, Andre Gill, and John Held, Jr., among others. This presentation will focus on the means by which to collect in a multi-dimensional, ever-changing marketplace and, most importantly, the thrill of the hunt. The ABAA Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 46th year November 8-10, 2024, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.

Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick

Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is the most persistently pictured of all American novels, with timeless themes that continue to inspire creatives of all types. Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick, now on view at the Peabody Essex Museum, is the first exhibition focused on the book arts of the hundreds of editions and adaptations published since 1851. vDrawn almost entirely from Peabody Essex Museum’s Phillips Library collection, Draw Me Ishmael explores decades of approaches to interpreting the novel visually, in book form. Dan Lipcan, curator of the exhibition, will provide an overview of the show and bring examples for the audience to examine! The&nbsp;46th Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) is a three-day event featuring 100+ top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.

Collecting Trash: Wastepaper in Early American Bindings

Bear, fox, skunk, raccoon, and muskrat bones. Earthenware vessels and ceramics in shards. Tobacco pipes. Clam and mussel shells. These are the typical contents of an 18th-century trash pit from New England. But there are never any books. Instead, printed waste was part of the larger ecosystem of 18th-century printing, binding, and bookselling. It was incorporated into the bindings of many early American books, just as it is today embedded in the very fabric of life around us. In this talk, Ashley Cataldo introduces the many uses of printed waste in early American bookbinding, drawn from the collections of the American Antiquarian Society, from the 1640 Bay Psalm Book to 19th-century printed books from Hawaii. <a href="https://www.americanantiquarian.org/node/28">Ashley Cataldo</a>, Curator of Manuscripts, American Antiquarian Society, will present a talk on Collecting Trash: Wastepaper in Early American Bindings (sponsored by the Bibliographical Society of America). The&nbsp;46th Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) is a three-day event featuring 100+ top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.

 Subverting Expectations: the Contemporary Dimensions of a Rare Book Collection

Acquiring artists’ books for a college’s liberal arts collection implies risk and obligation with every decision. Will they be used? Is the maker’s intent clear? Will they continue to resonate over time? These works demand skilled interpreters who will present them as hybrid book-objects that merge language, material, and visual presence as metaphors. An academic library provides outstanding opportunities to integrate artists’ books with historical collections of rare books and manuscripts—to remind the viewer that they are not separate from earlier forms of the book, but relatives in a long evolutionary line of human expression. Join Ruth Rogers, Curator of Special Collections at Wellesley College as she discusses a curator’s challenge of discerning from the vast range of possibilities and imagining how one’s choices will become a permanent part of teaching and learning at their institution. The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 46th year at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston, November 8-10, 2024. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.

Hynes Convention Center 

The Ticknor Society Collectors' Roundtable: Off the Beaten Track

Many, if not most, rare book collectors happily search among the mountain peaks, focusing on the high points in their chosen area. But some, for various reasons, venture off the well-worn roads, explore lesser-known byways, and even forge new paths through uncharted territory. Join the annual Ticknor Society Roundtable and hear from collectors including Gerald Prebble, who collects Little Magazines of the 1920s and 30s. Hear panelists tell their stories, why they left the regular paths, what they found along the way, and what it has added to the larger historical narrative in their area of collecting. The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair&nbsp;(BIABF) celebrates its 46th year November 8-10, 2024, at the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston. This three-day event welcomes the top international dealers offering the most sought-after collections of fine and rare books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the global market.

Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian's Legacy

Belle da Costa Greene, the first director of the Morgan Library &amp; Museum, was a world-renowned librarian. Known for her knowledge of medieval manuscripts and keen collecting eye, she was also a woman of color, passing as white (of Portuguese descent) in the racist and segregated Jim Crow America. Join Morgan Library Curator Erica Ciallela &amp; Harvard University Librarian Anne-Marie Eze to discuss Belle Greene’s background and her rise to prominence in the world of rare books. An upcoming exhibition on Greene will be held in the fall of 2024, marking the centenary of the Morgan Library's life as a public institution in New York City. Just a short walk from Grand Central and Penn Station, the Morgan is a major exhibition venue for fine art, literature, and music, one of New York's great historic sites, and a wonderful place to dine, shop, and attend a concert or film.

Get a first look at items for sale at this festive preview–an opportunity to browse the collections of U.S. and international dealers before everyone else!, and to mingle with other bibliophiles, collectors, museum curators, and special collections librarians. Celebrating its 45th year, The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (BIABF), is a three-day event (October 27-29 at the Hynes Convention Center) featuring fine and rare printed materials from around the globe, including illuminated manuscripts, modern first editions, children’s books, ephemera, photographs, maps and autographs, as well as antiquarian books on a vast array of topics.

S22: conversations

Wondering what to do in Boston? Places to eat? Free activities? Good for a group? Date night spot? Girls night out? The best things to do? Ask Joyraft!

Best places to go in Boston? Things to do? Places to eat?

Questions & answers about things to do in Boston

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S4: top picks

The most fun, cool and unique things to do in Boston. Can’t miss events, shows and experiences. Concerts, restaurants, bars, free things in Boston and beyond.

The most fun and cool events happening around Boston

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S11: happening this weekend

What to do in Boston this weekend? From festivals, concerts, performances, free events, screenings and more, Joyraft has the best things to do in Boston.

25+ things to do in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville this weekend

Things to do in Boston this weekend

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S21: roundups

Our top picks: outdoor dining, free events, spring festivals, best bars, upcoming concerts, museum parties - the latest in and around Boston.  Slug: joyraft-top-picks-best-things-to-do-boston-ma

Top picks of the best things to do in and around Boston

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S28: calendar experiences

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S20: c+d experiences

Discover new, unique events and experiences happening in and around Boston. Perfect for date night, good for a group or with a friend. Be the first to know.

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S16: editor picks

The most unique and can’t miss things coming up in Boston / Cambridge / Somerville and beyond. Festivals, food, drinks, fairs, concerts, art and free activities.

Unique and Can’t Miss Things to Do in Boston

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S2 (A): top experiences

The most popular things to do on Joyraft. Concerts, restaurants, bars, events, parties, openings, kid friendly, date ideas, free things in Boston and beyond.

Top 20 things to do in Boston

Top 20: Joyraft’s most popular

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S3 (A): trending experiences

Discover can’t miss events and things to do in Boston. The most fun, unique and cool events coming to the Boston area this spring and summer.

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S17: interest based

Your guide to everything free in and around Boston. From events, to fairs, to festivals, to outdoors. Joyraft has all the free events happening near you.

100+ free things to do in Boston and beyond

Free things to do in Boston

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S19: interest based

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S18: interest based

Where to eat and drink in Boston? Joyraft has Boston’s newest bars, restaurants and specials. Drinks and pre fixe dinner menus. Cambridge & Somerville too.

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Experiences

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

The Ticknor Society Collectors' Roundtable: Collector-Built Collections in Libraries

Boston in Transit: Mapping the History of Public Transportation in The Hub

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair Opening Night

Visibility Through Invisibility: Black Librarianship in the Early 20th Century

Edgar Allan Poe: A Life

Condition, Condition, Condition: How to Spot a Repair

Collecting on a Shoestring Budget: Books, Sports Ephemera, and Original Art

Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick

Collecting Trash: Wastepaper in Early American Bindings

Subverting Expectations: the Contemporary Dimensions of a Rare Book Collection

The Ticknor Society Collectors' Roundtable: Off the Beaten Track

Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian's Legacy

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair Opening Night