Over its life, the Chelsea fair has become a fixture in the November calendar for book collectors and dealers from Britain, Europe and America. Warmer than Boston, more intimate than York, less formal than Paris – Chelsea has it all. Most of our exhibitors come back year after year, and that’s because sales continue to increase, and the customers return, again and again.

Book collectors love the fair, as we find from comments made or overheard: it’s friendly and varied, the dealers have time to talk, there are plenty of books but it’s not overwhelming. ‘See you at Chelsea’ has become a phrase familiar to everyone in the British rare book trade.

Yet it’s not all about dealers and committed book people: we want to welcome new collectors too. With Christmas around the corner, are you looking for an unusual and memorable present? Or is there a subject, author or period of history that especially attracts you? Perhaps you have been thinking of collecting books but are unsure of where to start, what to look for, who to approach or what on earth booksellers mean by yapp edges, pochoir plates or slightly foxed ...

If so, then Chelsea is the place to meet and talk to antiquarian booksellers who will be happy to answer – or attempt to answer – whatever questions are thrown at them.

Whether you are a bookseller, a collector or you are simply curious about old, antiquarian and collectable books, maps and ephemera, then the Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair is not to be missed.