LONDON.- The Chelsea Rare Book Fair is returning to the beautiful and historic Chelsea Old Town Hall on the King's Road on Friday, 31st October and Saturday, 1st November. The Fair brings together exhibitors specialising in rare books, first editions, maps, prints, manuscripts and ephemera from all over the world.

The fair is a wonderful mix of local and international rare book sellers with prices starting from two figures and going up to five-figure sums covering every possible interest and as such making this a fair that's ideal for new collectors or someone simply looking for a special gift. This informal fair offers plenty of opportunities to chat to dealers, who are happy to guide visitors, making this a particularly friendly and inspiring experience for all collectors.

The ABA Chelsea Rare Book Fair has something to offer every type of book lover.

Among the highlights is an absolute treasure for all those who love their interior design - Journal-Manuel de Peintures was a French magazine covering decorative arts, design and architecture. Paul Foster Books is bringing an impressive 19 year run of the Journal from 1850 to 1869 which includes 324 beautiful colour printed plates. The set will be available for £3,500.

Staying with interiors, Parisian dealer Librarie Ormara is one to visit and among his offerings is a wonderful book, showing how French style evolved: Intérieurs Français by Jean Badovici from 1925 is the perfect gift to celebrate the 100th anniversary of L’Exposition des Art Décos and it carries an asking price of 900 Euros. He is also bringing a book on advertising by Alfred Tomer - The Theory and Practice of Lay-Out from 1931 with an asking price of 950 Euros.

King's Road related items can be found on Peter Harrington's stand - a first edition of Sex and Seditionaries for example, a book that examines the clothes by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren from the punk period and all that encompassed it, including Jamie Reid and the Sex Pistols. Number 162 of only 1,000 copies, it carries a price tag of £1,250.

125 years after Oscar Wilde's death, The Importance of Being Ernest is a real success on the London stage again and a very special copy can be bought from the same dealer for £45,000. It's a first edition, signed and number 17 of only 100 copies printed on handmade paper.

Quaritch will be showing a miniature London Almanach for 1820 in a delightful silver binding (£2,750) as well as a map of London with evidence of a developing postal and transport system from 1800 (£450).

Staying with maps, Tom W. Ayling is offering a particularly rare guide book - The American issue of the 1939 Michelin Guide, produced by Military Intelligence for the D-Day Landings. The specially commissioned edition was printed by the Military Intelligence Division of the War Department in Washington D.C., and several thousand copies were produced in 1944 and used by Allied Officers in the D-Day Landings. It proved ideal for non-French speakers to find their way around France, which was devoid of road signs. Unsurprisingly, the rarest Michelin Guide and the only one not issued in the normal red wrappers, it has an asking price of £4,500.

There will certainly be something for everyone at Chelsea from Chinese Cuisine to Churchill's opus on Marlborough. The first edition of the first French work on Chinese gastronomy by Henri Lecourt was published in 1925 and changed perception of Chinese food to the extent that modern chefs still refer to it. It is one of 500 copies and can be found at Shapero Rare Books with a price tag of £1,250.

If cookery books are not on your gift list, Churchill may be and one of the offerings at the fair will be Marlborough His Life and Times - Winston Churchill's magnum opus biography of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, which exceeds 1 million words and Shapero are asking £2,900 for this first edition of these four volumes published between 1933 and 1938.

The Chelsea Rare Book Fair will be open from 2pm to 7pm on Friday, 31st October and 11am to 5pm on Saturday, 1st November 2025. It's being held at the Chelsea Old Town Hall on the King's Road, London SW3 5EE. For more information visit: chelseabookfair.com.