Frankfurtive glances from the very heart of global book trade
book fair in the world.
No one quite knows for sure, but some claim the fair began as early as in 1462, shortly after Johannes Gutenberg had printed the world's first book with movable metal type. We do know for certain though that at the beginning of the 17th c, a certain Herr Kepler was trying to sell his Rudolphinische Tabellen (Rudolphine Tables) at the fair, while Herr Galileo was publishing a monstrous advertisement for his Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger).
This year, Herr Dylan was in Frankfurt during the Buchmesse. He was puzzled at the preponderance of publishers in his hotel. 'At the hotel in Frankfurt there was a publishing convention and every room was taken, parties all night. I didn't know there were so many book publishers in the world. I was trying to find Crystal Lake Publishing… I thought they might be interested in some of my stories. Unfortunately, it was too crowded and I never did find them,' he posted on X.
Poor Bob Dylan. The Lit Nobel laureate thought that the book fair was taking place at his hotel. What would he have said had he visited the fair, spread over six multi-storied halls, connected by elevators and walkways? He would probably have had better luck with finding Crystal Lake Publishing had he been there.
I was at the fair too, representing Jadavpur University Press, the only Indian university press present at Frankfurt. Though this was primarily a trade fair where rights were bought and sold, we were all carrying heavy suitcases, full of books and winter wear. Packing was
