The fourth International Antiquarian Bookfair in Hong Kong was held in December 2010 at Number 1 Pacific Place and it was very successful.
Around the world we keep hearing stories of the great financioal crisis, the Euro Crisi, the overprinting of the US $ and other stories of doom and gloom.
However there was no evidence of any of this at the book fair.
There were forty one exhibitors from France, United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Italy, Spain, Sweden and of course Hong Kong. It was a true International gathering of Antiquarian Booksellers.
Over one thousand people attended the fair over the three day period. And these visitors showed their appreciation of the material on offer by opening their wallets and making purchases.
Many rare and beautiful historical books, documents, maps and posters were displayed for sale. There was a great variety of subjects covering all geographic areas of the world with a particular emphasis on Asia and more especially Hong Kong and China.
Many books and maps which are very scarce were displayed. The material was mostly from the West and in Western languages with the majority being in English but French and German language material was also available as were a smaller number of Chinese items.
Total sales at the fair exceeded $8,000,000. The most expensive item sold was a hand written letter from Chairman Mao. Decorative items such as posters and maps were popular as well as ancient books with colour plates, especially those with a Chinese theme.
The customers at the fair came from Mainland China, from Hong Kong and other parts of Asia as well as Australia and Europe. There was an equal mixture of both local and expatriate customers.
The fair was considered by most exhibitors to be very successful and many have already signed up to attend the event which will be held on the first week end of December 2011.
Paul J. Feain
