The Rare Book Fair, which will take place on Saturday, November 5 and Sunday, November 6, will be the opportunity for readers to find books that cannot be found when visiting commercial bookstores. The exhibition brings together old copies and handcrafted publishers with a dual purpose: to promote appreciation of the book as an object among the public and to revitalize bibliophile. The event will take place in the Ruth Benzacar Art Gallerylocated at Juan Ramírez Velasco 1287, with free admission.
The concept “rare” in relation to a book it refers to its scarcity or to the fact that only on rare occasions can it be found for sale. “You can think of it as part of a scale: a rare book is scarcer than a difficult book and less than an unfindable book”, express the organizers and add: “We chose this term to name this fair as a way of summarizing the crossing that sustains it, which brings together antiquarian bookstores, first editions, copies signed by their authors, curious books that are difficult to obtain, and artisan publishers”.
In this aspect, it is necessary to distinguish various factors that can determine this scarcity. On the one hand, antiquity, although not every ancient book, enters the rare. But, on the other hand, some books are born rare. They are those that arise from editions made with extremely short runs, of few copies, printed with lead typography or bound by hand.
Among the participating antiquarian bookstores will be Mar Dulce, Martín Casares, Rayo Rojo, Rúa Vidueiros, Siesta, Los Siete Pilares, La Teatral, la Libertad, The Book Cellar & Henschel and Barrio Sur. As for the publishing houses of artisanal books, they will be present Amauta & Yaguar, Tree of Facts, Asunción, Balam, Buchwald, Chaco, Imprenta Rescate Other Inks, Santos Locos Poetry, Domestic Symmetry and Uraniaamong others.
The craft edition promotes the search for a harmonic relationship between the literary content and its material support. This produces aesthetic objects that are distinguished from the undifferentiated serialization that predominates in industrial production. For this reason, the proposal of the event points to the world of bibliophilean opportunity to speak with experienced booksellers and also publishers of handmade books.
This distinction is made through a set of operations inherited from the traditional book arts, such as the careful selection of papers, bindings made by hand or typographic printing. For decades, these spaces were constituting a “hidden bibliopolis”a propitious redoubt for the cultivation of the passion for rare books.
However, the technological advances that today go through and shape many aspects of our daily lives have not only impacted reading modes and devices, they have also affected the circulation of books. By oversimplifying the search, by removing the charms of searching, the bookstore experience was jeopardized. This threat should only be a stimulus for the creativity and inventiveness of these types of meetings.
You may also like
Image gallery
