Events

On September 7th and 8th, 2019, the Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair will return to the Brooklyn Expo Center for the sixth straight year. Since Brooklyn is a recognized hub of underground culture, this year the Fair will focus on subculture and a number of new trends in collecting. Among the topics are magic, mysticism, witchcraft, underground fanzine culture and more.

The Fair features 110 dealers displaying over 50,000 items for sale including vintage books, vernacular photography, and rare paper, prints and ephemera – all priced from under $50 to many thousands of dollars. There will be something for everyone – from the seasoned collector to the first-timer.

But that’s not all. The Fair will also present two exclusive art exhibitions, ten seminars and a free-of-charge appraisal clinic. And proof that Antiquarian Book Fairs are not just for the older set, unique one-of-a-kind items such as a first edition Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, one of only 5,150 copies in wrappers, will be on display and on sale. More one of a kind items can be found at this preview link: https://www.brooklynbookfair.com/2019-gallery. Harry Potter books, seminars on collecting grimoires (spell books) and numerous other interesting finds are sure to appeal to millennials along with hundreds of other items that could jump start a young adult’s collection.

“Our goal is to get people to start great collections one object at a time,” states Marvin Getman, Show Organizer. “More and more people are understanding and appreciating the intrinsic value of finding an object that not only has a history, but an object that also appeals to who they are and what they stand for. I believe that’s why we are seeing more and more millennials coming to our shows and picking up books and other memorabilia to start a simple but meaningful collection,” he added.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

Graphic Novel Author Barbara Slate will be on hand both days for a book launch and signing of her work titled, “Mueller Report Graphic Novel.” There will be a Read-In at noon until 1pm on Saturday, September 7th where attendees will be able to participate by reading a page from the book which will be projected onto a screen. Barbara Slate has been praised as “emphatically of our time” by The New York Times, “titanically talented” by comics legend Stan Lee, and “a groundbreaking artist” and “industry trailblazer” by the Pennsylvania College of Technology, which brought her in as Keynoter for their third ‘Wildcat Comic Con.’

She is best known as a pioneering feminist cartoonist bridging mainstream and alternative comics. Her creation of the empowering character Ms. Liz in the mid 1970’s propelled her to wide recognition when it was adopted as a series of animated features on NBC’s TODAY show in 1982.

One of the art exhibitions is entitled “One Day You’ll See: A History of Afrofuturism.” Afrofuturism is an umbrella term coined by culture critic Mark Drey to describe the body of work by African American artists and writers which provides unique views of the future of black people in America. “One Day You’ll See” chronicles the history of Afrofuturism from 1920 to the present day through books, comics, drawings, paintings, zines, sculpture, broadsides, music, album covers and posters. For more information about this exhibition, go to http://www.brooklynbookfair.com/afrofuturism