Thirty-seven bookstores have been participating since May 2 in the forty-sixth edition of the Madrid Antique and Second-hand Book Fair, on Paseo de Recoletos, which this year pays tribute to Ramón María del Valle-Inclán with a commemorative edition of Bohemian lights.
Since 1977
This Fair, the largest bookstore in the heart of the capital and one of the oldest of its kind in Spain, organized since 1977 by the Association of Lance Booksellers of Madrid, will be on Paseo de Recoletos from the 2nd to the 19th. of May, with thousands of copies.
37 specialized bookstores will participate, 23 from Madrid, five from Barcelona, two from Segovia and one for each city of Seville, Pamplona, Granada, Salamanca, Zaragoza, Huesca and Valencia, which will offer thousands of copies for sale with prices ranging from 1 euro for the cheapest editions to thousands of euros for authentic bibliographic gems, such as first editions, incunabula, rare copies and original manuscripts.
In the note sent by the City Council, the president of the Lance de Madrid Booksellers Association, María José Blas Ruiz, explains that the thousands of visitors from all corners of the country have turned the fair into “the most important one held.” in Spain within its specialty, both by sales volume and by variety and quality of the specimens offered.
The Fair offers second-hand and out-of-print volumes, old volumes, signed first editions, incunabula, original manuscripts, engravings, maps, rare editions, newspapers and magazines, comics, paper collections or second-hand books, as well as edition remains, known popularly as balance books.
At 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 3, at the official opening of the fair, the professor of Spanish Language at the Autonomous University of Madrid and full member of the Royal Spanish Academy, Pedro Álvarez de Miranda, will read the proclamation of opening.
On this occasion, the commemorative poster of the Fair, with a nod to the figure of Valle-Inclán, has been designed by the cartoonist, illustrator and caricaturist from Madrid, Raúl Fernández Calleja, known as Raúl.
Bohemian lights
This year, with a commemorative edition of Bohemian lightspays tribute to the figure of Valle-Inclán, Spanish playwright, poet and novelist, considered one of the key authors of Spanish literature of the 20th century, and who “completed the atmosphere and corners of the capital wonderfully.” .
In addition, the Fair has organized ‘Recoletos Saturdays’. During the morning of the three Saturdays of the fair, the cartoonist Raúl will sign posters and drawings at the information booth and free historical walks will be organized coordinated by Juan Carlos González, from Carpetania Madrid, to talk about the Paseo de Recoletos and the passion for books.
