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.
"Have you ever tried to explain book collecting to someone who's not a collector? This has never been an easy thing to do, but it seems to be much more difficult now than it was just a few years ago. The problem is not that books are unfamiliar objects, or that collecting is seen as an unusual pursuit. Despite increased competition, books can still be found everywhere, and collectors of all kinds are featured on more television shows than ever before. What makes an explanation of book collecting more difficult now is that the main purposes books have served for more than two thousand years - the storage and provision of information - can be achieved today in many other, and often much less expensive, ways...
More than 2000 antiquarian booksellers – in 34 countries – organized in 22 national associations – ILAB is the true global network uniting the leading experts of the rare book trade worldwide. Three days of meetings preceded the official opening of ILAB's 39th Congress: The ILAB Committee met on Saturday 18th September in the wonderful rooms of the San Giorgio in Poggiale Library. The Church was built at the end of the 16th century and kept by The Servite Order, then by the Jesuit Fathers; its library holds a rich heritage of manuscripts, incunabula, 16th century books, edicts, public notices and inscriptions.
In the evening the Committee members climbed high to the top of the Prendiparte Tower (59 m) - which once was a prison, and enjoyed a spectacular view of the old city from the terrace. The buffet, and the singing of the part time prisoners was legendary.
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The Jewish dentist Hans Sachs had collected over 8000 posters with historical advertisings before he fled from Nazi Germany to the United States. The Nazis confiscated the poster collection. It was rediscovered in a cellar in Eastern Berlin during the 1960s. 4200 posters from this collection were then given to the German Historical Museum. Now the museum must return the posters to the son of Hans Sachs. The Federal Court in Karlsruhe had concluded that the family of the collector always was and still is the rightful owner.
The arts, the book and music – interesting for collectors are artistically designed books by music publishers. Until now this subject was often neglected, whereas the design of CD and vinyl covers was discussed in detail. ECM records, for example, has published a two volume book on the art and design of their CD booklets. And Kompakt Records presented its record and CD designs at the Art Cologne in 2013. But what about music editions and arts? Veronika Pfolz gives insight into a fascinating field of collection: the wonderful works published by the Universal-Edition, which was founded in the 1901 by Emil Hertzka and has become one of the best publishers of contemporary music.
The 16th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography will be awarded in 2014 to one or more bibliographies or books about books published between 2009 and 2012. Seven books have already been submitted, among them bibliographies, biographies, library catalogues, studies on bookbinding and conference papers about "Early Printed Books as Material Object". They come from France, Italy, the United States, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.
