Bookdealer - London Book Fairs Issue - 19th June 1997 - 1313

Bookdealer – London Book Fairs Issue – 19th June 1997 – No. 1313
Bookdealer • ISBN: none (it’s a trade paper, not a prize-winning novel) • Condition: Good
Late-’90s book-trade reality, pre-mass-internet meltdown, from Crappy Old Books

Here it is: Bookdealer, the London Book Fairs special issue for 19th June 1997, number 1313 – which is a deliciously ominous issue number for a publication about dealers, margins, and the eternal question: “Will anyone actually pay that for a first edition?”

We’re in that magical in-between era when:

• Some dealers had email addresses and treated them like occult sigils

• Faxes were still fully respectable

• Catalogues were posted, fairs were essential, and “online” was something you might cautiously mention while others frowned over their bifocals

This is the book trade just before the tidal wave of internet book listing changed everything – still printed, still weekly, still raw, and still the place to find out who’d be standing behind which trestle table that weekend.

Condition: Good (like a dealer’s ledger that’s been paid… mostly)

When Crappy Old Books says Good, we mean:

• The cover is intact, carrying its mid-’90s trade-journal vibes with quiet authority.

• The fold/spine is sound – opened, read, folded over on a desk, but not split, shredded, or falling apart.

• All pages are present and attached – no missing centre spread, no torn-out ads, no absent fair listings someone “borrowed” for reference.

• Age-appropriate wear: lightly toned paper, gently softened corners, a bit of handling wear entirely consistent with a life in briefcases, shop counters, and dealer piles.

No suspicious stains, no coffee disasters obscuring phone numbers, no corners chewed by bored shop dogs. Just a complete, Good condition time capsule of the trade.

So what’s actually inside?

You’re getting a full working snapshot of the UK book trade in June 1997, including:

• London Book Fairs listings

  • Dates, venues, opening times

  • Who’s exhibiting where, and with how many tables

  • All those glorious descriptions like “good general stock” or “specialising in the unusual” that cover a multitude of sins

• Dealer advertisements

  • Antiquarian, second-hand, modern firsts, children’s, topography, theology, crime, sci-fi, pamphlets, and probably something described as “quirky” before that word went feral

  • “Catalogues issued,” “visitors welcome by appointment,” “wants lists invited” – the ritual phrases of a pre-click economy

• Stock and wants lists

  • People pleading for obscure titles

  • Others proudly offering exactly the sort of obscure titles that now sell online in seconds

No glossy photography. No QR codes. No banner ads. Just dense, practical information laid out for people who cared about books, not branding.

A love letter to the analogue trade (with the internet tapping politely on the window)

By June 1997:

• Big chunks of the trade were still running on phones, post, fairs, and catalogues

• A few brave or suspiciously young dealers were starting to talk about “websites”

• Most people still believed you had to go somewhere – in person – to see the really interesting stock

This issue captures that exact moment:

• The old ways still fully in use

• The new ways just starting to appear in tiny type at the bottom of adverts: “email:” something at compuserve.

It’s a working document of a trade mid-shift, but not yet transformed.

Why on earth would you want this?

Because you:

• Collect book-trade ephemera, dealer papers, catalogues, and fair guides like other people collect the actual books

• Have fond (or traumatic) memories of the 90s book fair circuit: bad lighting, good stock, and people muttering about VAT and parking

• Are writing about the trade and need authentic names, venues, wording, and the vibe of the time

• Just like the idea that once, not that long ago, the book world ran quite happily on newsprint and telephone calls

It’s also an excellent curio for:

• Shop walls and framed ephemera corners

• Dealers wanting to see where they – or their mentors – advertised back in the day

• Anyone amused by the phrase “book trade” and “Issue No. 1313” sharing the same masthead

Why a Good used copy is perfect

This is not something that was meant to be hermetically sealed.

From Crappy Old Books, this Good copy:

• Looks exactly as it should: used, but not abused; handled, but not wrecked

• Has enough age to feel authentic, but not so much you’re afraid to open it fully

• Can be read, annotated, or casually left on a counter to start conversations without any damage to your conscience

It’s not a relic to be entombed. It’s a working piece of history you’re allowed to touch.

The plain-vanilla particulars

• Title: Bookdealer – London Book Fairs Issue – 19th June 1997 – No. 1313

• Author/Publisher: Bookdealer

• Year: 1997

• ISBN: None – trade paper, not a monograph

• Condition: Good – complete, lightly worn, structurally sound, satisfyingly bookish

Bookdealer – London Book Fairs Issue – 19th June 1997 – 1313: for when you want to step back into a weekend where the most important thing was which hall the good ephemera dealer was in, and not a single person uttered the words “have you tried turning it off and on again.” Supplied in honestly Good condition by Crappy Old Books, dedicated archivists of the book trade’s paper trail.

Keep browsing: See more Non-Fiction books Other books by Bookdealer