Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair Returns

Mark your calendars, book lovers! The Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair is returning on Sunday, October 13 at the Michigan Union. For more than forty years, the book fair has gathered vendors from around the country who sell a wide array of titles.

“This will be our forty-fourth year,” said Jay Platt, owner of West Side Book Shop. Platt has been organizing the fair for nearly thirty years. “It started in 1976. It was held in the Michigan League in the middle of July. The American Library Association was having their rare book conference here, and we decided to put on a book fair for the librarians.”

The first year was far from successful, but organizers learned a lot from the experience.

“We did it for three days. There was no air conditioning, it was hot, and nobody bought any books,” Platt said.  “The next year, we moved it to the Union, and it’s been there ever since.”

The fair features a variety of vendors, including book sellers as well as booths of ephemera, maps, manuscripts and more.

“I have about thirty book dealers from around the country, from as far away as Missouri, Chicago, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania,” Platt said. “These are full time book dealers who specialize in various areas, and a lot of them are younger dealers, too.”

Vendors bring a wide variety of offerings, from inexpensive titles to selections that are very rare and priced accordingly. Shoppers can find fiction and nonfiction books, from serious literature to children’s books and everything in between. 

“There will be a lot of literary first editions, books on travel, exploration and pop culture,” Platt said.  “A lot of dealers have a specialty or strong suit that they emphasize. Some people describe it as the best bookstore in the world on that particular day.”


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The sale begins at 11am and runs to 5pm. There is a $5 entrance fee, which benefits the William L. Clements library.

“We have a long time association with them, and they co-sponsor the fair.” Platt said that the library will also have a booth at the fair, where shoppers can learn more about their work at the University of Michigan.

Platt said that shoppers often line up early at the gates, and like to linger and browse throughout the event.

“You can find books that you don’t know exist. You can talk to the book dealers. Everyone is willing to talk about books.”

The fair is the perfect opportunity for vendors to get their books into the hands of avid readers.

“Books are meant to be handled and seen. It’s a lot different than going online and looking at a picture,” Platt said. “You can actually handle and turn the pages. I could handle something from over two hundred years ago, and the paper is like new. Books last. That’s why we keep books.”

For more information, visit annarborbookfair.com, or contact Jay Platt at West Side Book Shop:734-995-1891.

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