Charlottesville, VA— The Virginia Arts of the Book Center will hold its eleventh annual Raucous Auction on Friday, November 13 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at its location at 2125 Ivy Road (Ivy Square Shopping Center). The evening will include a live auction, silent auction, raffle, food, drinks, and festivities. The $20 ticket price includes admission, a bidding paddle, a limited-edition print, and a raffle chance at the feature of the evening, a deluxe copy of the VABC’s latest collaborative book project, The Bad Quarto.

The Bad Quarto, a name given to the controversy-shrouded first folio of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (“First Quarto,” or “Q1”), became the VABC’s title for a page-for-page performance of the play. Participating VABC artists immersed themselves in the nuances of “Q1,” a text that includes different names for characters and sections drastically divergent from the text most people know. The artist’s book contains seventy pages of collaboratively designed and printed work of which only about 50 copies will be made. The project aligns with the 400^th anniversary celebration of Shakespeare, as promoted by the Virginia Shakespeare Initiative.

Individual books will be available for sale, and a deluxe, leather-bound copy will be raffled off that evening. Pre-bidding is now live online and tickets are available online via the auction website, through November 12 at noon; one need not be present to win. Ticket registration will also take place that evening at the door.

In addition to the main feature, a number of hand-made books, prints, etchings, and other pieces of art by local printers at the VABC will be available—as will “throwback prices” for starting bids on some of VABC’s previous collaborative projects. Look for professional framed art by Creative Framing, a class at UVa’s Rare Book School, and a week in an apartment in Paris. A preview of works and donations can be found from the auction website.

That night you can access the VABC’s Raucous Auction through the “Art on Ivy” entrance. Live auction takes place at 6:20 PM and the silent auction/raffle will wrap up around 8 PM. Food by A Pimento Catering and drinks will be provided.

About the VABC: Virginia Arts of the Book Center, a program of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is now in its twentieth year as a community of artists exploring books, paper, and printmaking. VABC exists to promote the values of the humanities through appreciation of the arts of the book, visual and verbal literacy, creativity, and the fostering of traditional and contemporary skills.

For more information about the VABC Raucous Auction visit VirginiaBookArts.org.

–Maggie Guggenheimer
Assistant to the President and Communications Officer
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities

About VFH: The mission of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is to connect people and ideas to explore the human experience and inspire cultural engagement. VFH reaches an estimated annual audience of 23 million through the Center for the Book, Community Programs, Digital Initiatives, and Scholarship. For more information, visit VirginiaHumanities.org.