The 70th edition of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, Europe’s most prestigious book fair, took place from 10-14 October 2018. This year too, our FSP publishers from many different parts of the world participated in the event. From their exhibition stand (Stand 5.0 E 43), they presented the latest news and publishing projects of the Congregation on the international level, as well as negotiated copyright exchanges and contracts with representatives of other publishing houses. 
Because the Frankfurter Buchmesse features thousands of exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors, it is considered to be the most important marketing event in the book world. This year, the country of Georgia was the guest of honor at the Fair, which highlighted its literature and culture in special way.
The history of the Frankfurt Book Fair dates back to the fifteenth century, when Johannes Gutenberg triggered a true revolution and ushered in the modern era with his invention of moveable type in the small town of Mainz, near Frankfurt. Gutenberg used his mobile letter press to print 180 copies of the Bible, which he then put up for sale. The year was 1455 and until the seventeenth century Frankfurt remained the site of Europe’s most important book sellers’ exhibition. The vagaries of history resulted in the city eventually “passing the scepter” of this distinction to Leipzig but then, after the Second World War (in 1949, to be precise), Frankfurt reclaimed this honor and until today remains the site of Europe’s biggest book fair and one of the most important book events in the world.
