At the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair, we'll be in Alcove 3. We hope you'll come to see us!

The excitement builds as we approach time for the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. We've been sorting books and putting them in boxes for weeks now in preparation for the book fair. At this writing, we're only a week away, and as always, it seems like an insurmountable task to get all the selections made and everything ready for the short trek over to The Coliseum.

After 34 years, though, we know it'll all come together in the end.

We're looking forward to seeing many old friends who will be coming to town specifically for the book fair. We hope they'll make some time to take in some of the events that are a part of SunLit Festival, the springtime celebration of literature that begins today and runs through the next ten days, including the book fair next weekend. A lot of folks in town have been instrumental in building SunLit Festival 14 events in its inaugural year last year to more than 40 event this year. Follow the link to more information about the SunLit Festival.

When the book fair starts next weekend, you'll find us in Alcove 3, our usual spot. We'll have shelves and cases and tables full of all the books we specialize in, including Florida history, antique maps, vintage prints and more. We expect to see a lot of old friends both in the antiquarian book industry and book lovers who can't stay away from the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

Most people coming to the book fair know what to expect but sometimes we encounter book lovers who haven't experienced the book fair before, and invariably, they'll wonder if they will be able to find something that suits their tastes – and their wallet. For the newly initiated fairgoer, we say that you can rest assured that you'll find books of all types, from very rare and very expensive to remarkable inexpensive find of delightful reading copies. We always have a table of $5 books, and we know that many other booksellers do, too.

Above, we're sharing a video that is running on local television stations to promote the book fair. It was made by visitors to the book fair last year.

More later, but we've got to finish packing.

See you at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair

It's the weekend we've been anticipating for a long time. We'll be at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. More than 100 dealers from around the country will be available with collectible books, ephemera, vintage photographs, prints, out-of-prints books, rare books, and more. The Book Fair opens Friday evening at 5 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m. On Saturday, we'll be there from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m until 4 p.m. We hope you'll come out and see us at the Book Fair.

Home of the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair

Thirty years ago the Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association put on the first Florida Antiquarian Book Fair in the ballroom of the old Plant Hotel (University of Tampa). Fourteen years ago, having outgrown that venue and others, the book fair moved to The Coliseum in St. Petersburg. It has been there ever since and will be in March.

Not long ago we were reminiscing with Larry Kellogg, who ran the book fair for more than two decades, for a video that will be published on the new Florida Antiquarian Bookdealers Association blog. This is some of the video.

We're at the Sunshine City antiques show

There certainly are a lot of antiques lovers in the Tampa Bay area. Many of them are at the Sunshine City Antiques and Collectibles Show at The Coliseum in downtown St. Petersburg this weekend. And we've had a good share of antique book lovers stop by the booth. We're in the first alcove on the left as you come in. We brought a van load of vintage books, maps, prints and photographs to share.

In this slide show, you'll see some of the treasures we brought to the show and also some of our friends who have stopped by. We hope you will, too.

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See you at the Sunshine City antiques show

We look forward every year to the Sunshine City Antiques & Collectibles Show at The Coliseum in downtown St. Petersburg or "St. Petersburg's historic Coliseum," as the publicity material says, and rightly so. The venerable Coliseum is a beautiful place for a show. (We'll be back there again in March for the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. More about that later.)

The Coliseum was built in 1924, amid the Roaring Twenties hoopla that was rampant in St. Petersburg and other places in the state. It was a ballroom. Still is, sometimes, with dances being staged there regularly. In fact, there's going to be a New Year's dance there in a few days – but, as they say, that's another story.

In the old days, The Coliseum was a venue for nationally known talent. It drew the likes of big band leaders Harry James and Paul Whiteman. Boyish crooner Rudy Vallee no doubt made the ladies swoon when he performed there. But the flappers are gone and so is the swing and the jazz (except for New Year's Eve and some other special occasions).

And in their place are the collective memories of our culture and of bygone eras. And, of course, the objects. It is the objects – and the spaces – that evoke for us the feelings of times past. So it is most appropriate that a show like this should be staged in a venue like The Coliseum, with its polished dance floor and its elegant arches.

In the slide show above, you'll see some of the kinds of books we'll bring to the show. In keeping with the venue and the theme, we'll have books that may remind you of your childhood, or of your grandma's childhood. We hope you'll stop by and see us.