THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING IN THE RARE BOOK TRADE
"Much has changed in little more than a century of bibliophily. But what really matters remains unchanged: the task of the bookseller is to disseminate culture by thorough study of the work, accurate description, and the precise condition of the copy - all of which transcend commerce. Just as Giuseppe Martini did, a dealer should even now stimulate the curiosity of collectors, encourage bibliographical research, the conservation of cultural heritage, and the re-evaluation of what was not well known yet or has already been forgotten. ...
Besides the economic incentive, I cannot help but consider the intellectual enrichment involved in book dealing as a truly gratifying reward. When I was a young boy I had the chance to meet the founder of ILAB, and a great bookseller, Menno Hertzberger. For almost 30 years I have been sharing with Norbert Donhofer and other Presidents of ILAB experiences about books, ILAB, and wine: though the times are a changin', I believe that the exchange of views with him and fellow book dealers from all over the world remains an irreplaceable resource in our unique profession."
ILAB CONGRESS AND INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR
BUDAPEST 21 - 25 SEPTEMBER 2016
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the Hungarian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, I kindly invite you to the 42nd Congress of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, which will take place in Budapest between 21 and 23 September, 2016. I am very proud that we, the Hungarian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, have the honour to organise this prestigious event, and I promise to do my very best to ensure that all participants can take home an enriching experience with them. It makes me especially happy to be able to welcome you at the First Budapest International Antiquarian Book Fair from 24 to 25 September, related to the ILAB Congress, both as visitors and as exhibitors. Please, watch the video on Youtube and kindly accept my invitation. I am looking forward to meeting you in Budapest, on 21 September 2016!
Ádám Bosze, President of the Hungarian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association
ILAB POP UP FAIRS ON UNESCO WORLD BOOK & COPYRIGHT DAY
ONCE AGAIN - 23 APRIL 2016
Take just a couple of minutes to look at this video on Youtube. It is a record of an extraordinary series of events - which were really one big event. On UNESCO World Book & Copyright Day 2015 ILAB booksellers brought the books to the people and to the most unexpected places: schools, train stations, restaurants, pubs, schools, museums, libraries, woolsheds, business clubs, in the streets, on boats, on skyscrapers. For 24 hours they were part of a great chain of booksellers spanning across the world. It was speed dating for book lovers, and an amazing experience for all who took part.
Join us again! Help us make the ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs on World Book & Copyright Day 2016 even bigger!
Seville has influenced European history since the Middle Ages. Following the 1492 Christopher Columbus expedition and discovery of the Americas, the city at the river Guadalquivir became one of the economic centres of the Spanish Empire, opening a Golden Age of science, arts and literature. In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the earth. Christopher Columbus was buried in the magnificent cathedral. Books, letters and manuscripts related to him and other great explorers are kept in Seville in the Columbine Library and the General Archives of the Indies. Only a short walk away from these famous sites the ILAB delegates met at the Palace of the Duke of Segorbe to hold their annual meeting.
The items on the agenda showed that the rare book trade has to face severe problems and radical changes, but that there are also promising perspectives and new paths to follow for better future partnerships and cooperation within the rare book world. The most important item on the agenda of each meeting is the report of the ILAB President.
It is a good and old tradition of ILAB that the Presidents of the member associations gather for more than only the meeting. They stay to visit the libraries, to meet the book people - librarians, collectors, dealers - and to admire the written cultural heritage, as it is preserved in the city where they come together for their annual meeting.
Bob Fleck was ILAB President, ILAB Vice-President, and Chair of the first ILAB internet sub-committee. He fought hard for the future of the ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography and oversaw the establishment of three ILAB websites. In regard of his ennumerable merits he was elected as ILAB President of Honour in Paris in 2007.
"Was that it? Was Bob's involvement in ILAB finished and done with? Oh no! ILAB needed a Treasurer capable of taking its accounting system into the 21st Century and turned once more to Bob Fleck to take on this difficult and not so enchanting job, which he took on in April 2014. He worked relentlessly during a year and a half, until the Seville Presidents' Meeting in October 2015, to put all the accounts in order and once the job was brilliantly done ... he resigned, having been asked to be Vice President of New Castle's Historical Society.
To thank him, once more, and perhaps not for the last time, for his devotion to ILAB matters, Bob Fleck was awarded during the 2015 October Seville Presidents' Meeting with the ILAB Medal, engraved on its back: In recognition of services rendered to the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers."
80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DUTCH ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLERS' ASSOCIATION
JOINT CATALOGUE
Founded in 1935, the Dutch Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (NVvA) celebrates its 80th anniversary with a grand joint catalogue presenting the highlights of the rare book trade in the Netherlands. NVvA President Frank Rutten writes in his preface: "Antiquarian booksellers are the guardians of paper heritage. We love history, especially our own! Many look back in nostalgia. We, however, face the future with confidence. This makes two reasons for a grand display. Hundreds of books, maps, prints and photographs are presented in this catalogue, the oldest book dating from 1478, the youngest from 1996. Five centuries of world heritage within reach."
News from Italy: With local authorities no longer in charge of heritage protection, it is illegal at the moment to export from Italy any book printed before 1965. Until August 2015, under Italian law, anyone owning a book older than 50 years and wanting to export it from Italy, was required to apply for an export license to the competent regional authority. On August 6th, the Italian Parliament approved a law on the reorganization of local governmental departments. The law 125/2015 repeals the paragraph of the Italian Heritage Code granting Regions the authority to carry out heritage protection on books and manuscripts; and provides for such authority to be "subject to specific agreements with the State". Alas, no specific agreements have been made so far and nobody can tell when, where and how these agreements will be finalized.
"Much has changed in little more than a century of bibliophily. But what really matters remains unchanged: the task of the bookseller is to disseminate culture by thorough study of the work, accurate description, and the precise condition of the copy - all of which transcend commerce. Just as Giuseppe Martini did, a dealer should even now stimulate the curiosity of collectors, encourage bibliographical research, the conservation of cultural heritage, and the re-evaluation of what was not well known yet or has already been forgotten. ...
Seville has influenced European history since the Middle Ages. Following the 1492 Christopher Columbus expedition and discovery of the Americas, the city at the river Guadalquivir became one of the economic centres of the Spanish Empire, opening a Golden Age of science, arts and literature. In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the earth. Christopher Columbus was buried in the magnificent cathedral. Books, letters and manuscripts related to him and other great explorers are kept in Seville in the Columbine Library and the General Archives of the Indies. Only a short walk away from these famous sites the ILAB delegates met at the Palace of the Duke of Segorbe to hold their annual meeting.
Bob Fleck was ILAB President, ILAB Vice-President, and Chair of the first ILAB internet sub-committee. He fought hard for the future of the ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography and oversaw the establishment of three ILAB websites. In regard of his ennumerable merits he was elected as ILAB President of Honour in Paris in 2007.
Founded in 1935, the Dutch Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (NVvA) celebrates its 80th anniversary with a grand joint catalogue presenting the highlights of the rare book trade in the Netherlands. NVvA President Frank Rutten writes in his preface: "Antiquarian booksellers are the guardians of paper heritage. We love history, especially our own! Many look back in nostalgia. We, however, face the future with confidence. This makes two reasons for a grand display. Hundreds of books, maps, prints and photographs are presented in this catalogue, the oldest book dating from 1478, the youngest from 1996. Five centuries of world heritage within reach."
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