The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair

301 Mercer Street - Seattle Center Exhibition Hall

October 24-25, 2026

SATURDAY 10:00am to 6:00pm

SUNDAY 11:00am to 4:00pm

Dealers from across North America and beyond descend annually upon Seattle, offering for sale thousands of collectible books, maps, manuscripts, fine bindings, photographs, posters, postcards, prints, ephemera and more.

Come tour the aisles of this most literate city’s beloved event. Meet with specialists from all over the world. Browse this veritable museum of cultural and historical artifacts. There is something unique to take home for all attendees on any budget.

Tickets $10.00 at the door (cash, check or QR code) good for both days.

If you are an antiquarian bookseller looking to register for SABF 2026, please contact Bill Wolfe at collinsbooks@collinsbooks.com

2026 Presentations & Tours

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24th

11:00AM – John Geraghty – The Root of fRUIT Is Fall: Obscure Typography in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Through Latin wordplay, vertical letter patterns, and the architecture of the printed page, this study investigates how Milton’s poetry may encode a deeper movement from ruin to redemption, inviting readers to discover what lies hidden in plain sight. FRUIT contains RUIT (ruin). The root of fRUIT is Fall.

12:00PM – John Henley – Book Appraisals and the IRS. John Henley will lead an informal discussion on book appraisals and IRS requirements, focusing on common mistakes and oversights that can cause the IRS to reject appraised values. The presentation will offer practical insights into ensuring that book appraisals meet IRS standards and withstand scrutiny.

1:00PM - The Book Club of Washington - Insiders Tour of the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair. Led by Scott Brown of Downtown Brown Books, the tour will start at the the BCW booth 806. First come, first serves, sign up at booth 806.

2:00PM - Frank Havlik. Reading the Evidence in an Old Book: What Can a 300-Year-Old Book Tell You Before You Read It? - This interactive presentation explores how bindings, inscriptions, typography, ownership marks, and other physical clues reveal a book’s hidden history. Using a centuries-old volume, audiences will discover how much a book can tell us before we read a single word.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25th

11:30AM – Rick Harris – Artificial Intelligence in Antiquarian Book Research. An introduction to the practical applications of artificial intelligence in antiquarian bookselling, including bibliographic research, historical translation, book descriptions and summaries, collation, and the digital restoration of manuscripts and illustrations.

12:30PM Daniel Dietz & Abe Richmond of Browser's Books offer a reading and conversation around Daniel’s book Rare and Used: Adventures of a Book Scout's Apprentice. The book is about his quest to recover Diane di Prima's first book. Daniel and Abe will discuss the used book trade, their shared love of di Prima, and all things rare and used.

1:30PM - The Book Club of Washington - Insiders Tour of the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair. Led by Scott Brown of Downtown Brown Books, the tour will start at the the BCW booth 806. First come, first serves, sign up at booth 806.