Firsts – London’s Rare Book Fair celebrates its 62nd year and event that’s running June 7-9

A rare book fair returns for its 62nd year and will include an opportunity to view Shakespearean work not usually on display to the public.

The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association’s annual flagship event Firsts – London’s Rare Book Fair runs from June 7-9 and will be opened by actor, writer and rare book collector, Stephen Fry, pictured.

The fair will showcase rarely seen items such as Shakespeare’s first Folio which is the first edition of Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, published in London in 1623 and is arguably the most famous book in world literature.

Bookseller Biblio is a partner this year and Shakespeare’s Globe is the charity partner. John Wolfson, the Globe’s honorary curator of rare books, will curate an exhibition of 16 extremely rare editions from his own collection.

This year there will also be an opportunity to use virtual reality to give visitors a chance to fly over Turgot’s monumental 18th century Plan de Paris, which shows the French capital during the reign of Louis XV.

Pom Harrington, chairman of Firsts London said:“In the year which sees Shakespeare’s Globe celebrate the centenary of the birth of Sam Wanamaker whose passion led to the rebuilding of this iconic theatre, and the 400th anniversary of the death of the Globe actor Richard Burbage, we are excited to be staging an exhibition at the fair of highlights from the Globe.

“This will include books from The John Wolfson Rare Book Collection and will offer visitors an unrivalled chance to see editions which are not normally on show.”

Brendan Sherar, CEO of Biblio, said: “When we launched Biblio our goal was to expand the reach of independent, professional booksellers to their potential customers around the world.

“We exist to help bibliophiles on the hunt for the next book in their collection, to help avid readers find their next great read, and to celebrate the beauty of the printed word in all of its forms.

“We are pleased to partner with Firsts London to further those goals and to extend our connections with the UK and Europe.”