From Thursday, May 1 to Sunday, May 18, 37 specialized bookstores in Madrid will be selling their most curious books at the Antique and Second-hand Book Fair. There are from paperbacks for 1€ to bibliographic jewels that can reach 1,000 euros.
The public can find antique volumes, signed first editions, incunabula, original manuscripts, engravings, maps, rare editions, newspapers, magazines, comics and much more.
A poster in homage to Machado
As a novelty, this 47th edition includes a tribute to the poet Antonio Machado for the 150th anniversary of his birth: Madrid-based illustrator Teresa Valero has created a poster for the fair featuring two women, one from the past and one from the present, reading Otro milagro de la primavera, an anthology that includes such famous poems as A un olmo seco (To a Dry Elm Tree) .
Valero describes his design as “a bridge that unites two eras through reading.” It unites two women, “one, almost 100 years ago, reads the book in an atmosphere of gloom while the poet writes behind her back. The other, who enjoys the peace and festive atmosphere of the fair, discovers that, in the same space she now occupies, things were very different not so long ago,” she explains.
More events for readers in Madrid
This is not the only event for readers being organized in the capital during the month of May. Soon, cultural institutions and bookstores from all over the city will turn out for the 84th edition of the Book Fair.