The book fair was fun and exhausting. My booth was constantly full of people eager to see and learn more about contemporary fine art bookbinding. I made quite a few new friends and saw some of my favorite regulars:

It takes more effort than you might think to create a small display like this:

The day before the fair, my temporary assistant, Michelle McCarthy, and I packed up all of my books and gear, and transported them 20 blocks to the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer. Then we began the really hard work.

Here we are mostly unpacked and have put on my table cover (required but not provided). Michelle is sorting books. Please note that the display case is how we found it: filthy, no shelves, oddly placed brackets, and a temporary electrical hook-up. All normal. Not to worry.

Thanks to team Red Queen, we had plenty of paper towels and glass cleaner. Ooops! I forgot all about that. I didn’t need them at Codex. While Michelle cleaned the showcase, I mentally mapped the book layout, including shelf placement.  We deployed the tape measure, adjusted the brackets, and locked them down properly (a critical step to be repeated frequently). Then we carefully installed the glass shelves, well away from the slightly warm overhead fluorescent lights.

We start to place the books.