Melbourne Rare Book Fair is at the University of Melbourne this weekend. OK, it's in Melbourne so most Undercover readers won't be popping in, but there are some exciting items for sale from Australian, British and American dealers that are worth noting, and can be bought long-distance if you are tempted. Among the highlights are a first edition of James Joyce's Ulysses ($6000), Allen Ginsberg's first "regularly" published book, Howl and Other Poems ($6000), a first-edition copy of William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job ($112,000), the limited-edition artist's book Fizzles by Samuel Beckett and Jasper Johns ($65,500), first editions of The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay ($10,000) and Biggles Flies North by Captain W.E. Johns, and a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets inscribed by J.K. Rowling to Christian Harris, the real-life model for her character Percy Weasley. (She writes, "There are too many adverbs in this book – I got better".) The most expensive item is a large archive of The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, the first Australian newspaper printed (1803-1842) on the press brought by the First Fleet ($575,000). See rarebookfair.com

A PERFECT AUSTRALIAN NOVEL

Joan London's 2014 novel, The Golden Age, will be published in the US in August by Europa Editions, the English-language publisher of Italian star author Elena Ferrante (and owned by her Italian publishers, Sandro and Sandra Ferri at Edizioni E/O). The modest Australian writer won the Prime Minister's Literary Award and the Kibble Award for The Golden Age, a 1950s story of polio and immigration, and the first US reviews are impressive. Kirkus Reviews says, "London is a virtuoso" and Publishers Weekly declares the novel "is pretty much perfect". Michael Reynolds, the Australian-born editor in chief at Europa Editions in New York, has picked up seven Australian novels including, this year, Charlotte Wood's tale of misogyny and outback survival, The Natural Way of Things, and France-based Tim Baker's LA noir, Fever City.

BREXIT PERPLEXES PUBLISHERS

There's confusion about how Brexit will affect book publishing. British publishers have tried in recent years to own exclusive European rights to many books, but fear they will have no protection against cheaper American editions once they leave the EU. Literary agent Clare Alexander said: "There is also a very real risk that Australia will also become an open market because of their own domestic political situation. Thus British publishers stand to lose both their most significant export markets." There are worries about copyright, funding for translations, festivals, fellowships and a loss of European staff and job opportunities, though piracy might be more easily controlled. But it's a possible change of attitude that worries many writers and publishers. Alessandro Gallenzi of Alma Books said: "It is very important that we are not seen as inward-looking, that we remain very much a part of Europe...We will have to be more active to celebrate cultural diversity. We must have the free movement of thought, if not of people." As with everything else to do with Brexit and our own parallel import rules, we must wait and see.