Major Sylvia Plath Collection Coming to New York Antiquarian Book Fair
An original painting of a young woman created and signed by Plath at age 16. Before she settled firmly on poetry in college, she seriously considered majoring in art. $135,000.

Type Punch Matrix will feature more than two dozen items from the life and career of Sylvia Plath at the 64th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair, April 4 - 7 at the Park Avenue Armory.

Rodolphe Chamonal Librairie: The original catalog albums of a 19th century Parisian parfumerie, containing over 400 labels: The album includes over 400 printed labels, most of which are highlighted in gold or in colors, carefully presented attached to the original drawings or watercolors of the bottles or boxes they were associated with.

The Book Fair will Open in New York with a Robust Schedule of Programming and Celebrate the ABAA’s 75th Anniversary

The ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF) – officially sanctioned by Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) and International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and produced and managed by Sanford L. Smith + Associates – returns to the Park Avenue Armory in New York City from April 4-7, 2024, for its 64th Edition. This year, the ABAA is celebrating its 75th Anniversary and will present a series of special events & programs tied to the New York fair.

The NYIABF is a cultural pillar of New York and returns as a much-anticipated highlight of the Spring season. Universally referred to as the world’s finest antiquarian book fair, NYIABF is excited to reveal nearly 200 exhibitors this year from around the world, continuing to live up to its reputation as a highly international fair. The fair has attracted a diverse audience of literary luminaries, influencers, celebrities, art, design and book enthusiasts and collectors both seasoned and entry level. In recent years, NYIABF has increasingly captured the attention of young collectors seeking one-of-a-kind offerings at more accessible price points. Prices range from $50 to millions.

Fair highlights encompass art, science, medicine, literature, history, gastronomy, fashion, first editions, Americana, philosophy, children’s books and much more. From the historic and academic, the religious and spiritual – to the bedrock of secular culture, finance, politics the fair boasts offerings in every conceivable genre and subject.

This year, the fair welcomes exhibitors from 15 different countries including Argentina, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. A robust number of US exhibitors also highlight the incredible wealth of material available stateside. Exhibitors will present a vast treasure trove of items: rare books, maps, illumi- nated manuscripts, incunabula, fine bindings, illustrations, historical documents, prints and print ephemera.

The fair continues to attract new antiquarian booksellers as it evolves, welcoming 16 new exhibitors this year including: °ART…on paper – XX Century Art Books, Alain Sinibaldi, Alastor Rare Books, Dale Steffey Books, Editio Altera, Keith de Lellis Gallery, Kunsthandel Mitmannsgruber, Librairie JC Vrain, Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, Patrick Olson Rare Books, Photo Discovery, Resser- Thorner Americana, Stephen Butler Rare Books, The Book Block, Wiggins Fine Books and ZH BOOKS.

This year’s event will present a robust schedule of programming and special events including the return of ABAA Connect, for the first time in partnership with the British Library, as well as Discovery Day, a program beloved by fairgoers, allowing them to bring pieces from their own collections and libraries for appraisal by dealers. More information on this year’s programming may be found below.

Exhibitors
In its 64thEdition, NYIABF continues to endorse the finest tradition of material culled from American and international antiquarian booksellers. In addition to 112 U.S. booksellers, NYIABF enjoys strong international participation with booksellers hailing from the United Kingdom (34), France (23), Italy (5), Germany (3), Netherlands (5), Austria (4), Denmark (2), Spain (2), Switzerland (2), Argentina (1), Sweden (1), Hun- gary (1) and Japan (1). The vast list of exhibitors includes booksellers from 3 countries that will participate in the fair for the first time.

SLSA and the ABAA are proud to announce that the British Library will be the institutional partner for ABAA Connect at this year’s fair.

A program resurrected from the early 2000’s, ABAA Connect will allow our 2024 institutional partner, the British Library, to request items at the NYIABF from exhibitors, and have those items purchased for the Library as recommended by tax-advantaged contributions from donors to the American Trust for the British Library (ATBL).

British Library curators will browse a list of items exhibitors will be bringing to the fair and will choose items they are interested in acquiring. Our British Library and ATBL colleagues and donors will attend the fair and discover these items together in person, and donors can either contribute the value of an item in its entirety or make a gift in part to the acquisition value for a particular item. Unique to the 2024 ABAA Connect program: the ATBL will guarantee the acquisitions requested by British Library curators.

The NYIABF hopes this program will expose curators to exciting items, connect booksellers with the Brit- ish Library and their curators, entice donors to attend the fair and purchase items that will benefit both the British Library and their personal collections, and inspire any fairgoer to become a donor.