Oxford Book Fair

The Oxford Book Fair returns to Oxford Brookes University on Saturday 17 October, a one-day event run by the PBFA. It's a bi-annual fair, so this is one of only two times a year it comes to the city. Around 70 dealers travel from across the country to set up, bringing tens of thousands of rare, collectable and second-hand books, along with maps, manuscripts and ephemera. The prices run from about £2 up to the thousands, so it works whether you're hunting for a cheap read or something more substantial.

The PBFA is the trade association behind it, and they've been 'taking books to the people' since 1974. They now number over 400 members dealing in rare books, prints, manuscripts, maps and more, and the fair is one of the ways they bring that trade out of the shops and into a single room. It's a broad spread — rare books, collectable editions, second-hand finds, maps, manuscripts and ephemera — all in one place for the day.

The venue is Sir Kenneth Wheare Hall at the Headington Campus of Oxford Brookes University, on Gipsy Lane (OX3 0BP). It's fully accessible, with a café on site and limited on-site parking, including Blue Badge spaces. The fair runs from 10:00 to 16:00, and entry is £1.00.