The Rochester
Antiquarian Book Fair

Presented by The Rochester Area Booksellers Association and RIT Press

 

Love books? Paper? Maps? Photographs?

Then you are in luck!

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Since its start in 1972, the Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair is one of the oldest regional antiquarian book fairs in the country. In 2019 we were proud to host 40 exhibitors from the East Coast and Midwest.

 

The fair's unlikely origin was in a restaurant on Mount Hope Avenue in the city. Two colleagues, a book dealer and the Director of Special Collections at the University of Rochester Rare Books Library, were having lunch one fateful day in April, 1972. They decided to inaugurate a book fair to help support the Friends of the UR Library.

           

The first fairs, which were held in the Rare Books Library, were limited to book dealers from New York State and attracted as many as 30 exhibitors. Today, the book fair includes dealers from all over the country and Canada. The fair has evolved to include good secondhand books--not necessarily antiquarian or rare--ephemera of all kinds and new books of local, collector or scholarly interest.

           

The venue has changed several times and the fair is now housed at its former venue, the Dome Arena in Henrietta, NY. The book fair is sponsored by the Rochester Area Booksellers Association and RIT Press. The event now has a lively, festive atmosphere of people who appreciate the aesthetic and intellectual aspects of the book.

                         

A note to public attendees: Please DO NOT bring materials you wish to sell to exhibitors. If you are interested in selling materials to specific exhibitors, you may speak with them and arrange a time outside of the event to do so. We reserve the right to refuse admission or hold these materials at the admissions table while you attend the event. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.