Though Tower Hamlets’ Idea Stores can give you access to a range of printed volumes and, though the internet, to even more written material, readers who want to get their hands round a genuinely old book will have to go a little further afield.
This year’s Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair will be held at the Chelsea Old Town Hall on the King’s Road, (opposite Sydney Street) London SW3 5EE on Friday 1st (2-7pm) and Saturday 2nd November (11am-5pm). There will be thousands of antiquarian books on sale, from the 82 expert sellers who have “booked” up to attend.
This year’s highlight will be an appearance by Raymond Howgego, who will be signing copies of his latest book Invented and Apocryphal Narratives of Travel. This is a comprehensive guide to invented, imaginary, apocryphal and plagiarized narratives of travel by land, sea and air, from the earliest times to the twentieth century. Although it is a separate publication, Narratives also serves to complete the author’s Encyclopedia of Exploration, a four volume, 3.7 million-word work dealing with voyages ad travels of indisputable historical reality, believed by many experts to be the largest unaided single-author work in the English language.
•Tickets for the Fair cost £10 (or £15 for two) on the door, but complimentary tickets are available by signing up online in advance. For more information about the fair, go to www.chelseabookfair.com.