Amsterdam's fair returns to the Zuiderkerk this September

Amsterdam International Fine & Rare Book, Print & Map Fair 2025
Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 September – Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam

This autumn, the historic Zuiderkerk will once again open its doors for bibliophiles and collectors for the Amsterdam International Fine & Rare Book, Print & Map Fair 2025, organised by the Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Antiquaren.
37 leading ILAB-affiliated dealers from all over Europe will present a wide range of rare books, manuscripts, prints, maps, and photographs.

Alongside the fair, a special exhibition will commemorate the 120th anniversary of Gerrit Achterberg (1905–1962), one of the Netherlands’ most celebrated but also controversial poets of the twentieth century.

Achterberg’s work is admired for its precision, intensity, and haunting beauty, but his life was marked by tragedy. In 1937, during a period of mental illness, he fatally shot his landlady, after which he spent many years in psychiatric institutions. For decades, this fact was hidden, and the tension between his extraordinary literary achievements and his troubled biography is still provoking debate.

The exhibition, a collaboration between the Dutch Society of Bibliophiles (Nederlands Genootschap van Bibliofielen) and the Association of Antwerp Bibliophiles (Vereniging Antwerpse Bibliofielen), gives visitors the chance to explore this paradox through “20 varia selecta” from private collections. This is extraordinary in itself, since most of these items were never shown to the public before.

Visitors can expect to see manuscripts and typescripts of Achterberg’s poems, photographs, invitations, and rare ephemera, first editions of key works and original drawings, many by artist C.A.B. Bantzinger

Cultural Programme of the Fair

The Amsterdam Book Fair, as many ILAB book fairs, is more than just a marketplace. Over the two days, visitors can enjoy a lively cultural programme, including:
• The award ceremony of the annual Young Book Collector’s Prize 2025
• Live demonstrations by master bookbinders
• Guided tours of the fair
• Expert lectures on book- and print-related subjects: The Art of Bookbindings, the little-known art collector Lucretia Six–Van Winter, the tropical naturalist Georg Rumphius, and a practical “STILT” session titled Spotting Repairs.

The Zuiderkerk is a lovely setting: a historic church right in the centre of Amsterdam, full of atmosphere and charm, which makes it a welcoming place to explore the treasures brought together by booksellers and collectors.

Amsterdam International Fine & Rare Book, Print & Map Fair 2025
Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam
Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 September
Free entrance
Full details at amsterdambookfair.net

Amsterdam International Fine & Rare Book, Print & Map Fair 2025
Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam
Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 September
Free entrance
Full details at amsterdambookfair.net