ILAB Joins the Protest Against Amazon’s Bid to Control Top-Level Domain Names

Today, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers has joined the numerous other organizations, such as the Authors Guild or the American Association of Publishers, objecting to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN’s) plan to sell top-level domains to private companies.  Online retail giant Amazon has bid to be the exclusive custodian of .book, .author and .read domains. Read more ...

Paris 2014 - 41st ILAB Congress

The ILAB and SLAM committees are very pleased to announce that the 41st ILAB Congress will run in Paris from the 13th to 16th April, 2014, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of SLAM. The Paris Congress will immediately follow the International Antiquarian Book Fair at the Grand Palais scheduled from 10th to 13th of April 2014. We hope that the very special  program that we have planned will attract numerous visitors to Paris and we are looking forward to meeting our new colleagues and welcoming old friends.

Anne Lamort, President SLAM, Tom Congalton, President ILAB

ILAB Patrons of Honour

ILAB is very proud to present Sir David Attenborough, Barry Humphries, René Fayt, Michael Knoche, Reiner Speck, Jay and Jean Kislak and Sid Lapidus as Patrons of Honour:

"Their commitment to the preservation of printed culture makes them our clients, our audience, and our inspiration, and very often all three. The paths that they have followed and the collections that they have formed are likely to have an extraordinary influence on the understanding of human culture for future generations."

16th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography

The 16th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography will be awarded in 2014 to one or more books about books published in any language and in any part of the world between 2009 and 2012. Publishers, librarians, collectors, antiquarian booksellers and all book lovers are very welcome to submit books to the prize until the end of April 2013 by sending a single copy to the Prize Secretary.

Support scholarship! Submit books to the most prestigious prize until April 2013!

The World’s Expert Antiquarian Booksellers - In 1 Book!

The new edition of the ILAB Directory contains all names, addresses and specialities of the ILAB dealers who are organized in 22 national associations and who are located in 32 countries all over the world. Have a look!

“Book collecting is and almost always has been a vibrant, exciting and engaging pastime"

"It’s our job to make others understand that.” An interview with ILAB President Tom Congalton about his career, his favourite books, Between the Covers, collecting, ILAB and the future of the trade. Read it!

ILAB Booksellers on Video

"A wonderful snapshot of the rich history of both the ABAA and the rare book trade" - ILAB is proud to present the video archive project by Michael Ginsberg and Taylor Bowie. Recently added: interviews with two amazing ladies: Marguerite Goldschmidt and Florence Shay.

"Out of the classroom and into the world" - ILAB Internships

ILAB has launched an internship program for young antiquarian book dealers. Alena Lavrenova, Anastasya Zhikhareva, and other young antiquarian booksellers from Russia, spent several weeks in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and the United States. Read their exciting reports and join our new Facebook Group!

The World's Best Booksellers Met in Switzerland

From 22 to 26 September the presidents of 22 national antiquarian booksellers' associations and rare book dealers from all over the world met for their 40th Congress in Lucerne. Besides the meetings and elections on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, they climbed high mountains and dark caves and visited Switzerland's most outstanding museums and private collections. Read the online diary!

Old and Rare Books. From ILAB: the one stop FREE App for all lovers of rare books

The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB)  has launched an ILAB Moile App which is now available in the Apple Store and the Android Market. Search for “ILAB rare books” or “International League of Antiquarian Booksellers” to find the free App ready to install on your phone.

GlossaryGlossary terms

CataloguesBook Catalogues

Book FairsRare Books - Next Fairs

  • London Map Fair

    08 Jun 2013 - 09 Jun 2013

    London Map Fair

    The largest Antique Map Fair in Europe, established 1980, brings together around 40 of the leading national and international antiquarian map dealers as well as hundreds of visiting dealers,...

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  • Bloomsbury Summer Book Fair

    09 Jun 2013

    Bloomsbury Summer Book Fair

    Dealers from the UK and abroad offer fine bindings, antiquarian, illustrated books, travel, modern firsts, children’s books, maps, prints, and ephemera.

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EventsRare Books - Next EventsRSS

BooksellersAntiquarian Booksellers

Rare Book Gallery

  • A New Map of the Western parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North...

    HUTCHINS, Thomas (1730-1789)

    Bookseller: Donald Heald Rare Books

    A New Map of the Western parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina; Comprehending the River Ohio, and all the Rivers, which fall into it; Part of the River Mississippi, the Whole of the Illinois River, Lake Erie; Part of the Lakes Huron, Michigan &c. And all the Country bordering on these Lakes and Rivers. By Thos. Hutchins, Captain in the 60 Regiment of Foot
    London: Engraved by T. Hutchins, 1778. Copper-engraved map by T. Cheevers, with period outline colour, on four joined sheets, overall measuring 36

    Buy from:

    Price: 150000.00 USD

  • THE AMERICAN ATLAS; OR, A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WHOLE CONTINENT OF...

    Jefferys, Thomas:

    Bookseller: William Reese Company - Americana

    THE AMERICAN ATLAS; OR, A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WHOLE CONTINENT OF AMERICA; WHEREIN ARE DELINEATED AT LARGE ITS SEVERAL REGIONS, COUNTRIES, STATES, AND ISLANDS; AND CHIEFLY THE BRITISH COLONIES
    London: Printed and sold by R. Sayer and J. Bennett, 1778.. Twenty-three engraved maps on thirty sheets, handcolored in outline. Folio, 21 3/4 x 15... More

    Buy from:

    Price: 140000.00 USD

  • A New System of Chemical Philosophy

    DALTON, John

    Bookseller: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc.

    A New System of Chemical Philosophy
    Eight engraved plates (several of the plates in Vol. I are a little foxed). vi, [1], 220 pp.; 4 p.l., 221-560 pp.; xii, 357 pp., [3] pp. of ads.... More

    Buy from:

    Price: 75000.00 USD

  • Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et fabricati figura....

    MERCATOR, GERARD. - [PMM 100 - MERCATOR'S PROJECTION]

    Bookseller: Lynge & Søn A/S

    Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et fabricati figura. Denu
    Amsterodami (Amsterdam), Iodocus Hondius, 1613. Folio (48

    Buy from:

    Price: 1000000.00 DKK

All ArticlesRare Books - Articles

  • Bibliographies - Law

    Online: Engelmann, Bibliotheca juridica - German prints about law and economics

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  • iPhone App for Rare Books, Magnificent Manuscripts and Autographs: „Treasures of the Bavarian State Library“

    iPhone App for Rare Books, Magnificent Manuscripts and Autographs: „Treasures of the Bavarian State Library“

    Browse the treasures of the Bavarian State Library with your iPhone: the "Nibelungenlied", the Gutenberg Bible, rare manuscripts from the Orient and the Occident. The first iPhone App for book lovers.

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  • Undercover Books

    Undercover Books

    The Books You Never Knew You Wanted - Simon Beattie has revived his blog which talks about some of the more curious and interesting books he came across. The latest post is about a French saboteur's manual, disguised as a dictionary. It's a French camouflaged-book, a "Tarnschrift".

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  • Rare Books in the Press: Bibliophilia for Beginners

    Rare Books in the Press: Bibliophilia for Beginners

    "You may think that no gift could be safer or tamer than a book. Rare books, however, are a different beast—if you're planning to buy one for a friend, or to treat yourself, remember the advice that is always given about dogs: They are not just for Christmas. In Arturo Pérez-Reverte's thriller "The Dumas Club," the satanic book dealer Varo Borja declares: "Becoming a book collector is like joining a religion: It's for life." All collecting is a disease, but lusting after rare books often strikes those without the bug as deranged. Unlike paintings or fine furniture, say, books are intrinsically mass-produced objects. What's more, you can look at a watercolor or a piece of porcelain without doing it any damage, but—according to the memoirs of the writer and collector John Baxter—a rare book loses $5 in value every time you open it."

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  • Tante Trude’s Adventures at the 55th London International Antiquarian Book Fair

    Tante Trude’s Adventures at the 55th London International Antiquarian Book Fair

    “Book fairs are fun and you learn a lot, but they do make your feet hurt!” As every year, Frank Werner of Brockhaus/Antiquarium exhibited at the International Antiquarian Book Fair in London. But this year was different. The book fair took place in the bigger and most beautiful National Hall at Olympia, and Frank Werner was accompanied by his aunt. It was the first book fair for Tante Trude, as he calls her, and she was excited!

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  • Practice Makes (Nearly) Perfect - 36th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

    Practice Makes (Nearly) Perfect - 36th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

    Sometimes the years seem to fly by like calendar leaves flapping off the wall in a corny movie. That was much the feeling at this year’s 36th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair, held at the Hynes Convention Center.  Old veterans of Bostons past walked the familiar aisles, nodding at one another – “Here we are again.” Members of the excellent Brede staff, many of whom have been working with us for years, gave us a “Good to see you again” shoulder clap. And they meant it. We’d each survived another year and were back in the familiar, comfortable confines of the Hynes. I recall problems in the early years, mostly centering around the difficulties of moving in and out. But now staff and exhibitors alike know the drill, and if anyone unfamiliar with the procedure gets panicky, there are plenty of calmer heads to offer support. No more ugly, non-conforming booths, no fighting, no biting. The complainers will never go away, but even they seemed subdued this year.

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