Dublin dealer Eamon de Burca exhibited Irish antiquarian books from the 15th century onwards at the ABA’s Chelsea Rare Book Fair.
Irish dealer De Burca Rare Books had planned for Brexit on October 31 by shipping stock from Dublin to London ahead of that date. “Normally we’re able to drive stock over ourselves but not this time,” Eamon de Burca told ATG.
Stalling out at Chelsea for the twelfth time, Paris dealer Michel Saporta of Librairie Ancienne Ormara said for this fair, customs “weren’t able to give us advice. That made us concerned as we drove here from Versailles with a car-load of books, not knowing if the UK would have left the EU by our return journey.”
Dealers and organisers will again be holding their nerves on fair bookings as the next Brexit deadline of January 2020 looms.
