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What is generally acknowledged as the world's first novel was written by a Japanese woman a thousand years ago. The Tale of Genji, by Murakasi Shikibu (known as Lady Murakasi in the West), is regarded to be an accurate description of life in the imperial court in the Heian era (794 - 1185 CE). The daughter of a scholar and an officer of the court, she was given a male's education. Being a lady-in-waiting herself, she was privy to life at court.

In 1963 William Freeman, an Englishman, created the first Dictionary of Fictional Characters. It made 458 pages and was published by J.M. Dent Ltd. in London. The author was 83 years old when he finished this 2-year research project.

Karel Čapek's Czech play RUR, (Rossum's Universal Robots) is notable for numerous reasons. Written in 1920, the play's commentary on the politics of its day earned its author a spot on the Nazi most-wanted list. RUR details a robot revolution that would overthrow the dominant class, humans, and lead to their extinction. Above all, the play is most well known for introducing the world to the word, "robot." In fact, before Čapek's play, what we think of as robots were mainly called "androids" or "automatons," with "automaton" meaning a self-operating machine. In Czech, "robota" translates to "forced labor." It's associated with the type of work done by serfs during the feudal ages.

At the Ordinary General Meeting on 13th April 2014 in Paris the presidents of ILAB's 22 national member associations voted for Norbert Donhofer (Austria) as new ILAB President. He succeeds Tom Congalton (United States) who served as President from 2012 to 2014; and he will be supported by ILAB Vice-President Gonzalo Fernandéz Pontes (Spain).

"One of the joys of being a bookseller is the chance to take occasional trips overseas as part of my business. My latest adventure was a two week, three country trip by plane, train, car, and boat to England, the Netherlands, and Hungary (with an airport layover in Poland). I saw lots of old friends and made some new ones, bought books, finalized a publishing deal, and ate many great meals. The main purpose of the trip was to participate in the International League of Antiquarian Bookseller's (ILAB) Committee meeting in Budapest." Part 1 of Bob Fleck's adventures in Europe.

24 hours of ILAB Pop Up Fairs across the world on April 23, 2015! This is how the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) will celebrate this year's UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day. This important celebration of literacy, books and reading is held annually on April 23: Shakespeare's birthday. On this day ILAB antiquarian booksellers will be leaving their shops behind and gathering together with a small selection of their best stock to show what beautiful items they deal in. The first in a series of over twenty Pop Up Fairs from Australia to Asia, Africa, Europe and America will start in Sydney. And what location could be more appropriate for the Sydney launch than the State Library of New South Wales?