Antiquarian book trade in the United States

Today, the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) is the primary organization of the trade in the United States.

The Rare Book School at the University of Virginia is the premier institution for those seeking an advanced education in the field.

The beginnings of the antiquarian book trade can be traced to British North America, specifically Boston of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In the later eighteenth century, the heart of the antiquarian trade shifted to Philadelphia and New York City, growing with an increasingly educated public and independence from Britain.

[3] The trade spread to Richmond and New Orleans, then to Texas, St. Louis, Chicago, and eventually, following the gold rush, to California.