ABA News
Meet our new exhibitors for Firsts 2025: Fold the Corner
Photo © Jon Baker
We are delighted to welcome Fold the Corner as a new exhibitor at Firsts 2025
We’re looking forward to welcoming you to Firsts London 2025! What will you be focussing on in selecting material for your stand?
Thank you very much! We are excited to be exhibiting this year. We are a relatively young business, and we have a pretty wide range of interests - we like books that are both "old" and "new", and have items ranging from the 1300s well into the 21st century. For this fair, however, our main focus will be on the unique. Almost all of the books have something individual about them - be that a signature, an inscription, an original drawing, or rarity, if something is held in only a handful of institutions worldwide.
Do you have a highlight item you can tell us about that you’re planning to bring to Firsts 2025?
We're delighted to be bringing Hilary Mantel's desk. It's the original desk at which she wrote her famous Wolf Hall trilogy - she has even signed the central drawer, like so many of us did in school: 'Hilary Mantel | her desk". It also comes with a complete collection of the canon of her works, each signed by the author. We have been keeping this item under wraps for a little while now (both figuratively and literally), and I for one have relished the opportunity to have this piece of furniture in my own home, to sit at and try to soak up some inspiration for my own writing. It is, however, time for it to find a new home. The desk comes with a letter from Mantel to the prospective new owner, written just a few months before she sadly passed away in 2022. In it, she tells us about the desk’s first home, and which novels were written upon it. But as she herself says: “it’s time for the desk to move on - battered tho’ it is, it still has life in it…”
Fold the Corner has a relationship with the children’s illustrator Charles van Sandwyk, who will be hosting an event at Firsts London this year. How did you make this connection and what do you think is the significance of Charles’ work?
Charles and I met while I was working in a revered antiquarian bookshop in London. We immediately hit it off, and so when Fold the Corner was founded a couple of years ago, it seemed a natural progression for us to work together, as we so enjoy each other’s company, and have the greatest of respect for what we each do. I have no doubt that Charles will go down in history as being one of the greatest illustrators of this generation. Already, he has been compared to the great Arthur Rackham for his intricate, evocative drawings of fairies, animals and the natural world, and he has a natural proclivity for storytelling, which we are very excited to be sharing at the event on Friday 16th May. We are still confirming details, but there will certainly be stories, signings, and possibly even music, so please do keep an eye out for updates as and when they are announced!
The theme of Firsts this year is ‘Books in Bloom’. Are you planning to interpret this theme through any of the items you’ll have on display?
While the business has a broad scope, we have only dealt with a handful of books involving florals or botanicals over the last few years. However, in working closely with Charles, we have decided to produce something very special for Firsts this year - an original, handwritten and hand coloured manuscript of his beautiful poem ‘Tree Whispers’. The book will be one of a kind, and will feature trees, flowers, and other elements from the natural world, all handbound and coloured by the artist himself. This is still in production, but we cannot wait to see how it turns out, and to have it on display at the stand.
Founded in 2023, Fold the Corner is a relatively new business in the landscape of the rare book trade. What has your experience been of launching a new rare book business?
Both myself and my business partner Mark come from the trade, but setting up independently is a very different kettle of fish. I would say that, for me, my experience has been twofold. Firstly, it has been the steepest learning curve of my life. Managing the cataloguing, buying and selling, marketing, photography, shipping, accounts and everything else which goes along with running a business is tiring, and I can scarcely remember what a weekend is! But I wouldn’t change it for the world. And secondly, what has been so encouraging is the overwhelming support we have received, and the enthusiasm from both the trade and public, straight from day one. I’m biased, of course, but I think it’s the best area of the arts to be in.
Fold the Corner has now attended several book fairs. What is the importance of book fairs to a business like yours?
Although we would love to open a shop one day, we currently work out of a book room in Milford, Surrey, which is open by appointment only, so for us book fairs are essential. It allows us an opportunity to meet new customers, buy from other booksellers face to face, make new connections, discover trends in the current market, and also bring awareness to our business. A book fair is, in essence, our shop front - an opportunity to show the world what we do. And of course it allows us to travel! We have a book van, Betsy, who is the third and arguably most important member of the team, and we hope to take her to several more fairs this year and next.
Do you think fairs are a good way to engage readers and first-time collectors in rare book collecting?
Absolutely. I ran an ‘Introduction to Book Collecting’ tour at the Chelsea Book Fair last November, and one thing which really struck me was that many people first starting out in collecting were readers themselves. My advice would be that when considering what to collect, first think about what you really love to read - is it Travel? Classic Literature? The children’s stories you were read as a child? If you start with what excites you, then you cannot go too far wrong in collecting. And fairs will open up new avenues of potential you had perhaps never considered. Every time I go to a fair, I’m introduced to a new book. And that’s the real beauty of them.
What would be your advice to a new collector visiting a large book fair like Firsts for the first time?
1. Enjoy the atmosphere - there’s nothing quite like it.
2. Take your time - the fair is large and can be a little overwhelming, but it runs over a whole weekend, so perhaps give yourself the chance to return the following day if you have not managed to make it to all the floors.
and 3. Speak to as many exhibitors as possible. As dealers, we all rely on the collective expertise of other ABA members, and I certainly turn to others for advice and help on a regular basis. There is going to be over one thousand years of experience in the Saatchi gallery in May, all under one roof - use it! We are all in this career because we love what we do - and believe me, we love to talk about it too - so ask questions, gather information, and let us help you put together the collection you are dreaming of - it would be our absolute pleasure to do so.