Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair 2026 Details
Three letters by Jack Kerouac, written between 1964 and 1969 to Jef Bierkens, editor of the avant-garde magazine Labris. Offered by Demian Gallery for €15,000.
The 63rd Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair returns next week featuring more than 70 exhibitors from 11 countries making it the most globally represented edition in the fair’s six-decade history.
The fair will take place January 23-25 at its new venue, the Liederhalle Culture and Congress Centre in the city centre next to the Maritim Hotel. Among those taking part are Sophie Schneideman Rare Books and Bernard Quaritch (UK), Ben Kinmont Rare Books (USA), Artisan Biblio-Phil Philippe Mauran and Le Manuscrit Français (France), Központi Antikvárium (Hungary), and Antiquariaat Forum (Netherlands).
Highlights include a fine copy of Immanuel Kant’s Critik der reinen Vernunft (1781) presented by Antiquariat J. Voerster from Stuttgart, and an important autograph poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe offered by Tresor am Römer (from Frankfurt).
The relaunched fair is also wider in scope than in previous fairs with an expanded presence of photography, design, and related fields, including Japanese prints, 20th century artist books, and key works of the avant-garde alongside rare books and manuscripts.
The fair has also expanded its supporting programme of exhibitions and lectures, including presentations devoted to paper ephemera, book art, and design-oriented topics including Young Collectors Zone & Design & Book Aesthetics which is a new area for the next generation of collectors to meet, and Women & Bookcraft examining elements such as book design, illustration, and the contributions of women to book culture. Short guided tours of the fair will be held throughout the weekend.
“We realised that we must open the fair more deliberately to a future public, the next generation of book lovers, and offer them a compelling programme of their own," said Bálazs Jádi from Verband Deutscher Antiquare and the Fair Committee. "With the dedicated Young Collectors Zone and numerous new exhibitors who rank among the world’s most important antiquarian booksellers, we have taken on a significant challenge.”
