What is ILAB

The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers - A Global Network for the Rare Book Trade

ILAB logoThe global network of rare booksellers in 37 countries

In the aftermath of World War II, representatives from five European countries met in Amsterdam to discuss a new international booksellers’ organization.  Its goal was to foster friendship and understanding and to encourage international peace through open markets. By September 1948, ten countries had joined and ILAB/LILA was formally incorporated in Copenhagen. Today’s League retains its original official languages, English and French, and now consists of twenty-two national associations representing some thirty-seven countries and around 1800 individual bookselling firms.

Contact

International League of Antiquarian Booksellers ILAB/LILA
The ILAB Secretariat can be contacted via email. 

Booksellers’ Expertise – Buy with Confidence

The main objectives of the League are to uphold and advance technical and ethical standards, to encourage international trade, and to contribute to a broader appreciation of the history and art of the book.

Affiliated booksellers worldwide adhere to ILAB’s strict Code of Usages and Customs requiring books and related material to be accurately and professionally described and to guarantee the authenticity and genuineness of all material for sale.

  • ILAB - Expertise: Why buy books from an ILAB Dealer?
  • Why ILAB?
  • Why Collect Rare Books?
  • ILAB Code of Usages and Customs
  • Quality, not Quantity
  • ILAB - A Global Network
  • Do you want to sell your books?
  • Sally Burdon - ILAB President - Inaugural Speech at ILAB Gala Dinner, Pasadena

    • history

    ILAB ABA logo
    ILAB
    The ABA and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
    Published on 27 March 2018
    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.
    […] Read More
    ILAB Logo
    ILAB History
    Published on 17 July 2013
    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.
    […] Read More
    preliminary_conference_1947.jpg
    Preliminary Conference
    Published on 17 July 2013
    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.
    […] Read More
    first_committee_1948_oaka.jpg
    Copenhague 1948
    Published on 17 July 2013
    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
    […] Read More
    muir_domizlaff.jpg
    1951-1960
    Published on 17 July 2013
    “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)
    […] Read More
    peetersfontainas_2ndprize.jpg
    1961-1970
    Published on 17 July 2013
    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.
    […] Read More
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    More History

    Congresses & Meetings

    Tbilisi 2018

    ILAB Presidents' Meeting 2019 - Tbilisi, Georgia

    The next ILAB Presidents' Meeting will take place in September 2019 in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. More information will follow soon.

    2018 - Los Angeles

    2017 - Copenhagen

    Congresses, Meetings, Fairs 1947 - 2017

    2016 - Budapest

    More Congresses & Meetings

    Education

  • List of International Mentors
  • Application Form for Mentees
  • ILAB Mentoring Programme FAQ's
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Germany / Austria / Switzerland
  • Sweden
  • France
  • Netherlands
  • Germany / Austria / Switzerland
    • More Education

    Committee