TWELVE ILAB BOOKSELLERS AT CHICAGO'S HISTORICAL "MILLIONAIRES' ROW"

ILAB POP UP BOOK FAIR ON UNESCO WORLD BOOK AND COPYRIGHT DAY, 23 APRIL 2016

"Sweet home Chicago" is worth visiting for its architectural gems. Glessner House, for example, was designed for the family of famous industrialist John Jacob Glessner by noted American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. A radical departure from traditional Victorian architecture, the structure served as an inspiration to architects such as Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe and the young Frank Lloyd Wright, and helped redefine domestic architecture.

 

The Glessner family lived in this house for fifty years, through the heyday and decline of the Prairie Avenue neighborhood, once known as Chicago’s “millionaires’ row” . John Glessner cherished his home as a symbol of happy family life, and the interiors demonstrate the nearly perfect collaboration between the architect and his clients. Designed during the so-called Gilded Age, when America’s newly rich industrialists were living in modern-day castles, Glessner House represents architect Henry Hobson Richardson’s response to the Glessners’ desire for a simple, comfortable, and cozy home.

Completed in 1887, Glessner House is today an internationally-known architectural treasure. As early as 1960, it was named an honorary Chicago landmark, in 1970 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1976, the former home of the Glessner family was honoured as a National Historic Landmark. The 17,000 square foot home now houses a museum and hosts highly-class cultural events – lectures, exhibitions – in its premises.

On UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April 2016, twelve Chicago booksellers will hold an ILAB Pop Up Book Fair at this wonderful historical venue. All members of the Midwest Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), they will show a fine selection of rare books, manuscripts, prints, autographs and ephemera from all centuries and for all tastes at Glessner House to take part in the worldwide ILAB/UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day celebrations and to raise funds in support of the great work of UNESCO’s Forest Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI) in South Sudan. The following ILAB booksellers invite you to enjoy a day among beautiful books in the former beautiful home of  Chicago’s famous Glessner family: 

Jeff Hirsch (Jeff Hirsch Books), James M. Borg (Borg Antiquarian), Paul and Elizabeth Garon (Beasley Books), Owen Kubik (Kubik Fine Books Ltd), Larry Van De Carr (Bookleggers Used Books), Annette Kolling-Buckley (Columbia Books), Bradley A. Jonas (Powell's Bookstore), William L. Butts (Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, Ltd.), Sammy Blade Berk (Harlan J. Berk, Ltd.), Daniel Weinberg (Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Inc.), Rob Rulon-Miller (Rulon Miller Books), and the organizer of this great event: Kurt D. Gippert (Kurt Gippert Bookseller).

All dealers have agreed to donate 10 per cent of the proceeds of any sale made during the ILAB Pop Up Fair to UNESCO. Their generous support for literacy will be echoed by main sponsor Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, represented by Mary Kohnke, and co-sponsor The Caxton Club, represented by Jackie Vossler. Several other organizations have agreed to also attend and promote this amazing Chicago contribution to the ILAB Pop Up Celebrations 2016: the Cliff Dwellers Club, the Union League Club, the American Institute of Architects-Chicago Chapter, the Society of Architectural Historians-Chicago Chapter, the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, the American Writers Museum, the Glessner House and their association of house museums, as well as the local Midwest Antiquarian Booksellers Association (MWABA). Other organizations are expected to join.


Take a virtual tour through Glessner House, and be prepared for a really big event!

WHERE AND WHEN?

CHICAGO, GLESSNER HOUSE, 1800 S. PRAIRIE AVENUE, 23 APRIL 2016, 10 am to 5 pm.

Meet the ILAB booksellers there, admire their excellent rare books on display, buy some schoolbooks for the children in South Sudan by making a donation to UNESCO, and have a glass of wine or beer or – maybe – champagne to celebrate the very heart of our culture: literacy.

JOIN US ... ORGANIZE IT ... ILAB POP UP BOOK FAIRS ... ACROSS THE WORLD ... ON UNESCO WORLD BOOK & COPYRIGHT DAY ... 23 APRIL 2016!

March 2016 – For immediate release. Pictures: ILAB, UNESCO, the Organizers, Glessner House

Chicago, 23 April 2015 - A review in pictures

Who knows? Maybe Frank Lloyd Wright and Carl Sandburg already had drinks at the elegant premises of the Cliff Dwellers Club. On 23 April the Club high above Chicago and overlooking Lake Michigan was a busy place filled with Chicago's antiquarian booksellers, Cliff Dwellers, Caxton Club members and numerous booklovers who had climbed to the 22nd floor of the skyscraper to enjoy books and bookish talks, to have a drink and to donate money to help UNESCO support literacy in South Sudan.

Pictures courtesy of Kurt Gippert:

 

Chris Rohe, Kurt Gippert

Brad Jonas, Garrett Scott

Sylvia Castle

David Mesnard, Garrett Scott, Susan Hirsch

Garrett Scott

Jan  Lawrence Van de Carr Bookleger's

Jeff Jahns

Paul Garon, Kurt Gippert

Sammy Berk

Virginia Harding, Kurt Gippert, Susan Hanes

1 to 6 pm, Amsterdam - An ILAB boat for booklovers

Amsterdam is famous for its 17th century canals, called "grachten". On one of these boats the Amsterdam booksellers from Antiquariaat Kok, Die Schmiede, Antiquariaat Spinoza and Antiquariaat Brinkman held a floating ILAB Pop Up Book Fair today. The boat went from Amsterdam harbour to the city center over the Prinsengracht to Roking, opposite of the Special Collections Department  of the University Library, and landed finally at the Singel, the innermost canal of the old city of Amsterdam.

However, at first, the ship broke down before they could set sail, so while waiting for a replacement the Dutch dealers started selling the symbolic books in the street. Luckily another boat was found, and finally the wonderful journey could begin.

Enjoy the pictures:

Meanwhile in the United Kingdom - CELESTE the Rare Book Campervan arrived in Oxford

What a trip! Amanda Hall and Susanne Schulz-Faster are setting up in Broad Street, Oxford, and the librarians are deeply interested in what's going on there:

3.20 pm, Milan and Lucca - ALAI and ILAB for UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day

For weeks, the Italian antiquarian booksellers have been highly active in supporting ILAB's worldwide initiatives on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day 2015. From the first day of the Milan Antiquarian Book Fair, 27 March, up to UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April, people had the possibility to donate money to the UNESCO literacy projects in South Sudan via www.alai.it. The final day of the great campaign is celebrated with ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs in Lucca and Milan:

Meanwhile, in Dunkeld - Drinks and books in a woolshed

After organizing two ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs far away in the Australian Bush, Roz Greenwood and her colleagues are enjoying drinks and books at the final ILAB Pop Up Book Fair held in Australia on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, 2015!

Thank you very much for making "The Tale of Two Towns - From Library to Woolshed on UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day" possible!

For all booklovers worldwide: Stay tuned, ILAB booksellers will continue showing great rare books and raising money for UNESCO all day long, in a Mexican Wave from Australia to the Northwest Pacific coast of the United States.

1.15 pm, Antwerp - Books across the borders on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April 2015

Two antiquarian booksellers, one trading in Belgium and the other in The Netherlands, decided an international boundary lying between them wasn’t going to stop them participating in ILAB’s celebration of UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day.

Erik Tonen usually enters “his more than elegant antiquarian bookshop” on the Kloosterstraat in Antwerp greeting the shelves with a “Good morning, books” (Marc Didden in De Standaard). Around 30 kilometres northwards, in Ter Hole you will usually meet Peter Everaers of Secundus Antiquarian Booksellers, dealing with fine books, maps, manuscripts and ephemera on the history, literature and art of Zeeland and Flanders. Today the two colleagues are holding an ILAB Pop Up Book Fair at the Bibliotheek Permeke in Antwerp.

10.50 am, Vienna – ILAB on top of the Austrian capital!

A year ago, it was ILAB President Norbert Donhofer’s idea that ILAB should take part in the worldwide celebrations on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day. Now, on 23 April 2015 from noon to 3 pm the ILAB Pop Up Book Fair at Norbert Donhofer Rare Books on top of Vienna will be one of over 30 worldwide ILAB events on that day!

Everything has been prepared for the ILAB Pop Up at Norbert Donhofer’s new office – Taborstrasse 64/Top 18!

And even more: His son Matthias has already donated 50 € for schoolbooks given by UNESCO to South Sudan! Very many thanks to the ILAB President and his son for hosting such an amazing event on top of Vienna!

Thank you very much, Matthias, for your generous donation!