Book fair to auction rare editions

HCM City (VNA) – A book fair offering rare and old books will be held at the HCM City pedestrian-only Book Street on November 25.

The three-day fair, organised by the Quan Sach Mua Thu (Autumn Bookshop), will display nearly 1,000 book titles published in Vietnam several decades ago.

Vietnamese poetry books and novels, history books and foreign literary works will be featured.

These will include Ho Dzenh’s poetry book Que Ngoai (Mother’s Hometown) and Ngo Tat To’s novel Leu Chong (Heading for Royal Exams), both published in 1942 with the authors’ signatures.

Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu (The Complete Annals of the Great Viet) in Vietnamese by translator Nhuong Tong published by the Tan Viet Publishing House in 1946 will also be on display, as well as Nguyen Tuan’s novel Vang Bong Mot Thoi (Reminiscences of a Golden Era) published by the Cao Thom Publishing House in 1968.

These rare books are belonging to Quan Sach Mua Thu and city-based collectors, such as Nguyen Ngoc Hoai Nam, Vu Ha Tue and Nguyen Anh Tuan, who will host a talk on their passion for book collecting.

There will be an auction of valuable rare books to raise funds for storm and flood victims in central provinces on November 27.

Le Hoang, vice chairman of the Vietnam Publishers’ Association, said, “The fair will showcase special edition books which cannot be found in the market. These books show off the skills and techniques of Vietnamese publishers during several decades.”

The book street is located at Nguyen Van Binh Street in District 1.-VNA