Popular book fair shows L.A. is mecca for collectors.Michael Dawson For the Lost character, see . Michael Richard Dawson (born November 18, 1983 in Northallerton, North Yorkshire) is an English professional football player who plays as a defender for Tottenham Hotspur and England. , a third-generation book dealer in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , will not have to go very far to dig up some of the world's rarest and oldest books - they'll come to him. That's because Dawson is one of more than 200 dealers from across the country and overseas who will be in L.A. this week for the California International Antiquarian an·ti·quar·i·an n. One who studies, collects, or deals in antiquities. adj. 1. Of or relating to antiquarians or to the study or collecting of antiquities. 2. Dealing in or having to do with old or rare books. Book Fair. The fair, held every other year, is expected to draw more than 12,000 people to the Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center (abbreviated LACC) is a convention center in downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, and was best known to video games fans as host to E3 until its cessation in 2006. . It is touted as the most successful rare-book exhibition in the country. Its 1996 event, sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association HISTORY AND BACKGROUND Founded in 1906 and the oldest organisation of its kind in the world, the Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA) is the senior trade body in the British Isles for dealers in antiquarian and rare books, manuscripts and allied materials. of America, drew twice the attendance of other ABAA ABAA Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America ABAA Associação Brasileira dos Advogados Ambientalistas (Brazil) ABAA Air Barrier Association of America ABAA Alberta Blonde d'Aquitaine Association fairs, including those held in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . "L.A. has become the largest and most successful of the fairs," said dealer Howard Rootenberg, chairman of the ABAA Southern California Chapter. "It consistently attracts the highest numbers of dealers and collectors." Because of the fair's growing popularity, organizers plan to make it an annual event starting next year. Rootenberg said he is not certain why Los Angeles has become the city of choice for rare book dealers, but he believes it's partly due to the large number of seasoned art dealers here. Rootenberg is one of them. A second-generation book dealer, he joined the family business, B&L Rootenberg Rare Books in Sherman Oaks, after a long stint as a music attorney. "It's not as sexy as the entertainment business, but it's clearly a multimillion-dollar business," said Rootenberg. "More people are interested in books because they're more affordable than art ... and more accessible." Book collectors and dealers are expected to spend more than $4 million over the weekend. The books, which explore every subject imaginable from science and medicine to natural history and photography, will range from a few dollars in price to six figures. The priciest books date from as far back as the 15th century. Also for sale and exhibit will be manuscripts, autographs, fine graphics, prints and maps. "I've been going to the book fair since it started 31 years ago," said Dawson, who owns and operates Dawson's Book Shop, one of L.A.'s oldest book stores, which was started in 1905. "It's really an exceptional experience ... a lot of people come from out of the country. It's truly an international event." Organizers say about 30 percent of participating dealers come from as far as Asia. Europe and South America. For the general public, Rootenberg said this is a good starting point to become a serious collector - meaning "somebody who has two books" on the same subject. "You can go to a book store and start a collection. The possibilities are all there," said Rootenberg. "When I travel to book fairs ... I'm like a kid in a candy store." |
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