A smörgåsbord of Bay Area book events in early February 2019

February will be a busy month for booklovers and the book community in the Bay Area and beyond, with a delightful buffet of events and opportunities to enjoy:

• Starting off the list, the Stanford Libraries and the Hand Bookbinders of California will be hosting a celebration of books and libraries on Tuesday, February 5th, from 6:00-9:00PM, at the American Bookbinder’s Museum in San Francisco. Elizabeth Ryan, book conservator with the Stanford Libraries Conservation Department, will give a presentation on conservation approaches to scholarly significant book damage and previous interventions in research collections. Enjoy light refreshments and drinks while visiting with Bay Area colleagues and visitors, as well as participate in museum and exhibit tours. As everyone who follows them on Instagram already knows, the Stanford Preservation Department encounters the most fascinating and challenging situations in their work with rare and unusual materials, so this promises to be an enlightening and entertaining event.

• One of the world’s preeminent book fairs and seminars for artists’ books, CODEX VII 2019 will take place on 3-6 February 2019 at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond. This bi-annual fair offers a unique opportunity to meet modern book artists from around the world and to view their works. This year’s spotlight on "CODEX Nordica" will feature books, artists, and projects from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
• In conjunction with Codex, the San Francisco Center for the Book is hosting an opening reception for a new exhibit featuring artists' books, letterpress, and printmaking from the Nordic collective CODEX Nordica on Saturday evening, February 2, 2019, from 6:00-8:00PM. More information is available here.

• The 52nd California Antiquarian Book Fair will take place on 8-10 February 2019 at the Oakland Marriott City Center. This fair is one of the largest antiquarian book fairs in North America, with over 200 dealers from around the world, and the items on display include manuscripts, early printed books, modern first editions, maps, children’s books, and a wide variety of specialties and topics.

• Also on 9-10 February 2019, the San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print & Paper Fair will take place at the South San Francisco Conference Center. This fair is a showcase for posters, maps, photographs, books, and print ephemera of all shapes and sizes.
  

Mark your calendars for an eventful February 2019!