2. Billie Holiday’s Bar Tab
At the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, you won’t just find books. Vendors also have historical documents, photographs, memorabilia, and other ephemera. Schubertiade Music and Arts, a Brooklyn-based dealer and gallery of “rare and interesting offerings for collectors, scholars, music lovers, gift-givers, museums, and libraries” will be bringing such items.
Among the most surprising of their wares is this Ritalin Prescription for Billie Holiday (1915–1959) and a bar tab that the jazz singer signed with “Lady Day.” Holiday, who was born Eleanora Fagan, was given the Lady Day nickname by jazz saxophonist Lester Young. This pair of documents is on sale for $3,500.
