I attend the New York Antiquarian Book Fair—the largest of its kind worldwide—every year, and it has always been the best place to discover extremely rare and hard-to-find books from the 16th century and later, though they are far from affordable. That changed with the 2026 edition of the show, where I saw a refreshed and reimagined fair; many more small and newer exhibitors had joined the ranks, offering rare first editions as well as posters, ephemera, artists’ books, paper artifacts, and more—many priced under $1,000.
The show is traditionally held at the historic Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East SideLooks like this exhibitor had a good sales dayA catalog of silk labels at Zephyr Used & Rare BooksAn impressive collection of hand drawings for art deco period labels at Boss Fine BooksManuscript by Brion Gysin at ShaperoA mug shot album of convicted criminals from the 1889, at Keith de Lellis galleryRare 1960s film journal from Uruguay1860s hand-drawn catalog of toys for German merchant Johann Christoph LindnerRare 18th century “perspective theater” by engraver Martin Engelbrecht at A collection of first edition books focusing on photographer Man RayBookssellers’ print catalogs featuring their special items for the show
New York International Antiquarian Book Fair April 30—May 3, 2026 Park Avenue Armory Tickets $32 nyantiquarianbookfair.com
