Biblioteca art bazaar
By José Luis Mendoza

Flea Art Market and Auction (FAMA)
Sat, Sep 12, 10am–2pm
Auction: 12:30pm
Biblioteca Pública patio
Insurgentes 25

The first Flea Art Market and Auction offers painting, sculpture, etching, prints, photography, jewelry, books and antiques. Renowned artists will set up mini-galleries under the portales and in the patio to exhibit and sell their work. Initial invitations filled the space; 18 artists have confirmed.

You may register on site for the auction in the patio at 12:30pm. Café Santa Ana will be open regular hours (10am–2pm) and also will have a stand on the patio with coffee, soft drinks, cookies, cake and sandwiches. 

Art books, cookbooks and current fiction For FAMA, the library’s collectible books booth concentrates on art books, cookbooks and new first-edition hardcovers of current popular fiction at 50 pesos. The space is smaller, but the booth also offers architecture, interior design, history, poetry, anthropology and philosophy.

Most books are priced at 50 pesos, except for sets or scarce volumes. Expensive rare books were kept back to accommodate the art books. A pricey highlight of recent rare acquisitions is an Andy Warhol first edition from 1967; ABE lists a signed copy for US$12,000.

Highlights are Seminars in Art, a large-format book on Mary Frank, The Cuisines of Mexico and a compact OED.

Seminars in Art is a complete 12-volume set published in 1958 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The individual “portfolios” contain an envelope of 12 high-quality 9x12-inch color prints. The 144 prints are worth the 350-peso price of the books. The set is a panoramic view of 2,500 years of Western painting, with individual volumes on movements, techniques, composition and the social role of the artist.

Mary Frank is a 1990 volume published by Harry N. Abrams about the visual artist known primarily as a sculptor. She also produced many paintings, prints and works in other media. This deluxe volume focuses on her sculpture, with 142 illustrations, 45 of them in color. Internet sellers offer it for US$50–175; our price is 400 pesos.

The Cuisines of Mexico, after all these years, is still the best book around with the perfect combination of technique and recipe instructions.


Oxford English Dictionary, Compact Edition, complete 20-volume text reproduced micrographically (in slipcase). Deluxe hardcover edition. List new US$399, internet sellers $250, our price 1000 pesos. The reading glass is missing—usually the case with used copies.


Paperback Exchange 

Paperback Exchange opens soon at Cuadrante 32, two blocks south of the Jardín (the street also is called Pila Seca and Hospicio). The bookstore booth will be stocked with a thousand recent paperback mysteries, thrillers and romances. Prices range from two to ten pesos.