90 Years of NVvA — A Celebration of Bookselling, Scholarship and Collaboration in The Netherlands

The Huis van het Book is the oldest book museum in the world, founded in 1852. Housed in a historic 18th-century building, the museum explores the cultural and artistic history of the book and holds a rich collection of manuscripts, incunabula, and fine bindings. https://www.huisvanhetboek.nl/en/collections

A highlight of the visit was the presentation of the oldest printed book in the Netherlands: Psalmorum codex ad honorem S. Jacobi, printed in Mainz in 1459 by Johann Fust and Petrus Schoeffer, bound by the renowned Parisian bookbinder Jean-Claude Bozérian. Even though booksellers handle rare and beautiful objects on a daily basis, seeing this extraordinary work was a fitting tribute to an association whose members have dedicated their lives to the care, study and trade of rare books.

The celebration continued with drinks and dinner at the elegant Hotel Des Indes, where members enjoyed good conversation, shared memories, and raised a glass to the long history of the NVvA.

Founded in 1935, the NVvA has long stood for expertise, trust and professional integrity in the trade of rare books, prints and maps. Its members, currently around 60 leading antiquarian booksellers (can you fill in the correct number?), are carefully selected for their professional knowledge, expertise and reputation.

The Dutch association also played an important role in the founding of International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. It was the NVvA’s then-president, Menno Hertzberger, who in 1947 conceived the idea of forming an international organization to foster cultural exchange and open markets through the antiquarian book trade. The preliminary meeting was held in Amsterdam that same year, and ILAB was officially founded in 1948. https://ilab.org/article/ilab-congress-amsterdam-2024-the-long-history-of-the-league-and-the-netherlands

Since then, Dutch booksellers have made significant contributions to ILAB over the years: proposing the creation of the ILAB Prize for Bibliography in 1951, publishing the first International Multilingual Dictionary of Terms Used in the Book Trade in 1955, hosting international training courses in the 1960's, and initiating scholarship programmes for young booksellers in the 1990s.

Three Dutch booksellers, Bob de Graaf, Anton Gerits and Arnoud Gerits, have served as ILAB Presidents, and the Netherlands has hosted ILAB Congresses and Presidents’ Meetings multiple times, beginning with the historic meeting in Amsterdam in 1947 and the most recent congress in October 2024. https://ilab.org/article/ilab-congress-amsterdam-2024-ilab-founded-in-amsterdam-in-1947-the-history-of-ilab-and-the-dutch-book-trade

Ninety years after its founding, the NVvA remains a vibrant part of the international rare book community: organising an annual international rare book fair in Amsterdam, awarding a prize to young collectors and connecting generations of booksellers and collectors and will continue to promote the trade for many years to come.

To connect with our Dutch colleagues, please visit their website --> HERE