The first international antiquarian bookfair of the new year is to be held in Hong Kong in January.

This will be our second fair and we are very pleased to have many of the same exhibitors back as well as some new exhibitors.

Some of these new exhibitors are from Beijing, Shanghai and Taiwan and so it is an exciting expansion. Last year we announced that we were bringing established Western and Japanese booksellers to China to try and expand markets for both Asian and Western booksellers.

There were a number of mainland Chinese booksellers who attended last year’s event as visitors and now some of them have announced that they will exhibit at their first International Antiquarian Bookfair.

I am sure that in future years more and more booksellers from East and West will exhibit side by side in International Antiquarian Bookfairs all around the world and this will be due in no small part to our ambitious venture last year.

The booksellers of the world are like everyone else puzzled and concerned about the international financial downturn but we are still full of optimism and not the pessimism that is gripping the media and some sectors of the commercial world.

Our books and maps are rare and desirable and we believe that, although not recession proof, people and institutions are still as interested in important old books, maps, prints, photographs and documents in bad economic times as they are in good economic times.

We are proud and excited to offer to the public and libraries of Hong Kong and China this catalogue of old, rare and valuable books and hope that many people will come along to buy and examine and educate themselves further about Antiquarian Books.