Boulingrin Book and Old Papers Market

Halles du Boulingrin Book and Old Papers Market

The Boulingrin Book and Old Papers Market is a Reims institution that brings together lovers of old books, vintage papers, and rare printed documents every second Sunday of the month under the vaults of the Halles du Boulingrin. This specialized market is distinguished by the quality and specificity of its offerings: while general flea markets mix all sorts of merchandise, the Book Market focuses on printed matter in all its forms.

The exhibitors — booksellers, specialized dealers, and private collectors — offer a fascinating panorama of bookish and paper culture: old and used books, vintage postcards (including precious pre-war views of Reims), advertising and artistic posters, sheet music, collectible magazines and periodicals, prints and engravings, manuscripts, autograph letters, old administrative documents, catalogs, and brochures. Ephemeral paper items — what collectors call "papyromania" — are particularly well represented here.

This type of specialized market is rare outside of major cities, making the Boulingrin Book Market a popular event for collectors from the entire Champagne-Ardenne region and beyond. The Halles du Boulingrin, an emblematic Art Deco monument in Reims, provides a setting that is both majestic and intimate for this event, conducive to learned browsing and unexpected discoveries. Bibliophiles, philatelists, cartophiles, and the curious from all disciplines will find something to delight them.

Reims and its cultural and literary tradition

Reims (51100) has had a strong connection with written culture for centuries. The city, home to the Carnegie Library — an architectural gem of the Belle Époque — and numerous cultural institutions, is a leading intellectual hub. The Champagne tradition of printing and old book trade continues through markets like the Boulingrin, which keeps the trade of used and collectible books alive in a city that has preserved its cultural soul despite the destruction of the Great War.