Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough, OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, the British broadcaster and naturalist, has been appointed a Patron of Honour by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). The appointment recognises his major interest in and contribution to the antiquarian book trade.

Sir David graciously accepted the honorary position following an invitation from the President of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) in the United Kingdom, Laurence Worms. He joins a select body which includes the author Umberto Eco and the comedian and satirist Barry Humphries.

Sir David was elected an Honorary Member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association in 2012.

Sir David’s career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for 60 years. He is best known for writing and presenting the nine Life series of programmes, in conjunction with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Natural History Unit, which collectively form a comprehensive survey of all life on the planet. He is also a former senior manager at the BBC, having served as controller of the television station BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the only person to have won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA) in black and white, colour, HD and 3D. Sir David is widely considered a ‘national treasure’ in Britain, although he himself does not like the term. In 2002 he was named among the One Hundred Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote. He is a younger brother of director, producer and actor the Right Honourable Lord Attenborough, CBE (Richard Attenborough).

The ILAB is a global network for the rare book trade and represents 1,860 of the world’s finest antiquarian booksellers in thirty-two countries.

(Official press release of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association ABA)