Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association - Book Fair EDINBURGH DEC 2011

The Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association began - officially - in 1974, although the history can be charted back a further couple of years. The Association was born of a need - originally identified in the West of England - for a regular London shop window for dealers with shops in the provinces. The prime mover was Gerry Mosdell who, from his Barnstaple shop in 1972 advertised for participants in a series of two-day monthly book fairs, to be held in South Kensington at the Hotel Eden. The first fair was arranged for July, and there were nine exhibitors.