The ABA and ILAB look back at a long history. The ABA is relaunching its flagship fair in London this year, the oldest antiquarian book fair in the world, under the auspices of ILAB.
This text by the late Anthony Rota, ABA bookseller and ILAB President of Honour, was published in 2008 in the ABA Directory.
The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2018. Oak Knoll Press has just published the League's "Historical Index", compiled by ILAB bookseller Nevine Marchiset.
Today the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers unites 22 national associations under one roof. Some of them had already been established when the League was founded in 1947/1948. Five of them were the driving forces: the antiquarian booksellers of Great Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden and The Netherlands.
In 1947 representatives from Great Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden and The Netherlands met in Amsterdam for a Preliminary Conference. They discussed Hertzberger’s idea of forming an organization that counteracted the animosity and suspicion engendered by the Second World War. The new International League of Antiquarian Booksellers should foster friendship and understanding between the nations as the mutual basis for a fair and professional trade in the future.
The ILAB was formally incorporated in Copenhagen in September 1948, with ten participating countries. Representatives from Belgium, Finland, Switzerland, and Italy joined their colleagues from Great Britain, France, Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands at the conference table. Denmark was holding a proxy for Norway
“Considering the dubiety with which our activities were treated it is pleasant to record that the Congresses in London in 1949 and in Paris in 1950 were very successful both socially and professionally, while the standard of hospitality in both cities was impeccable." (Muir)
The admission of Japan, the ILAB Bibliography Prize (now ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography) and the first ILAB International Antiquarian Book Fair were the milestones of the 60s.
The Italian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (ALAI) is pleased to announce that the second edition of the ALAI book fair, Libri Antichi e di Pregio a Milano, will take place from 7th to 9th March 2014, in Palazzo Mezzanotte, the historical seat of the Milan Stock Exchange.
Collectors of rare and antiquarian books are well aware that they must take specific measures to preserve and protect their collections. Condition directly impacts value, but perhaps more importantly, condition dictates how intimately you can experience the items in your collection; items that have deteriorated cannot be handled and studied with the same freedom as items that have been better protected. Common enemies of antiquarian books include direct sunlight, humidity, and vermin, along with substances like adhesives – and even other paper. The same holds true for antiquarian photographs and photo albums. But due to their more complex composition, these items often require even more specialized care.
Mention the city of Stuttgart anywhere, and the first thought is „Mercedes Benz", „Porsche" or perhaps „Robert Bosch". What is less well known is that Stuttgart is one of the big "book cities" in Germany. When Leipzig lost importance after the war, many publishers and book distributors moved here. It has always been a reading town, not for nothing does Friedrich Schiller hail from here. Friedrich Hölderlin and Hermann Hesse lived and suffered nearby. The philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and the publisher Johann Heinrich Cotta were born in Stuttgart, where a century later Mies van der Rohe built the famous "Weissenhofsiedlung" on the hills that surround the city centre. Stuttgart is also a centre of anthroposophy in Germany. The first Waldorf School was founded here, by Rudolf Steiner himself. So it does not come as a surprise that the oldest and largest bookshop specialised on anthroposophy is located here: Engel & Co. It has had several names during its history, but the basic premise has never changed: to purvey anthroposophic literature in particular and a select stock of good literature in general.
The Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair, established in 1962, is one of the oldest book fairs in Europe. It is held every year in January, and is the very first major rare book event of the year. The German Antiquarian Booksellers' Association (VDA) invites all ILAB booksellers to participate in the Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair, where dealers and collectors from all over the world will meet from Friday, 27 to Sunday 29 January, 2017. Every year, the opening of the international fair season attracts numerous international dealers and potential collectors. The fair committee is very pleased to be able to offer a significant discount to all first-time exhibitors.
Most of my bookselling life has been a lonely business: waiting for trains, scouring shelves of dull books in the hope of finding one good one. But for five years I had a shop, and that wasn't lonely at all.
