he Dutch Antiquarian Booksellers' Association was founded in 1935 with the object of promoting reliability in the trade of old books and prints.
From the very start applicants had to comply with stringent regulations, the purpose of which is to give purchasers guarantees of quality.
Members of the NVvA are part of an international network of dealers who form the best contacts for collectors of old books and prints. Their guarantees of authenticity, completeness, and condition, with the right to return any goods for defects not mentioned and total repayment, are a security which no purchaser would want to do without. They are well informed of the international market and guarantee the vendors best results and prompt payment. They are also reliable and expert advisers concerning questions of insurance or inheritance.
Members of the NVvA can represent would-be purchasers at auctions where, through their expertise and relations, they can avoid difficulties and frustration which a purchaser may encounter.
Members of the association can also be of assistance in tracing books or prints considered difficult to find. Some members have a special search service, by means of which the would-be purchaser gains access to stocks spread all over the world.
ANZAAB is the professional body which represents the members of the antiquarian book business in Australia and New Zealand. It aims to promote antiquarian bookselling and collecting; it makes statements on matters affecting these topics on behalf of its members.
The association organises a regular series of antiquarian book fairs in major cities.
Like many national associations, ANZAAB is affiliated with the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Like other national associations it sets out standards of commercial behaviour to which its members voluntarily adhere. It encourages the observance of the courtesies and honourable practices traditionally associated with the trade. In particular, ANZAAB seeks to encourage its members to achieve high standards of accuracy in descriptions of materials offered for sale.
The Association includes those Austrian antiquarian booksellers who exclusively or primarily buy and sell antiquarian books, magazines, prints, autograph letters or music. The members of the Association submit themselves to a very stric code of ethics which defines how commercial transactions are to be conducted between Austrian and foreign antiquarian booksellers on the one hand and the professionals and individuals on the other hand.
The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Austria has already three times hosted the biennial congress of the ILAB. The last congress was in 1998.
Following the congress, in which 243 antiquarians from all over the world participated, the 17th International Antiquarian Bookfair was held in Vienna too. No less than 111 antiquarian booksellers from 16 countries took part in this exhibition. Last but not least, the Austrian Association has already several times hosted the annual Presidents' Meeting.
Currently there are 37 members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Austria. Elections for the Committee are held every three years.
ounded in 1946 and member of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the Belgian professional chamber of antiquarian booksellers numbers 40 booksellers from Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Louvain, Mechlin and Namur and foreign associated members from France and the United States. A joint catalogue is published every year.
Among the dozens of important 19th century works re-edited by Livraria Kosmos and also dozens of 20th century works edited, we will highlight the acclaimed "Bibliografia Brasiliana", which was written by Rubem Borba de Moraes and edited in association with "Editora Colibris", Amsterdam. This significant work was re-edited in 1983 by UCLA, California.
The Brazilian Association has been a member of ILAB since 1954. Its objectives are the same as the International Association's. The motto of the Brazilian Association is: Competence, Reliability, and Tradition. The founder Walter Geyerhahn, was president until his death in 1990. Mr. Patrick Levy, a partner of the 53 year-old "Livraria Susan Bach", succeeded him until 1994, when Ms. Ana Maria Bocayuva de Miranda Jordão, of Sebo Fino Livraria Antiquaria assumed the presidency. Sebo Fino was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro.
Membership in the Association is restricted to booksellers who have a minimum of three years' experience and can provide four recommendations from members in good standing who can vouch for the applicant's expertise and integrity.
ABAC booksellers offer a broad variety of antiquarian and rare material which they are qualified to describe, authenticate and guarantee. Our member firms also continually require replenishment of their stocks so they are always eager to purchase individual items and collections of merit as well as general libraries.
ABAC firms are qualified to provide appraisals of manuscripts, antique maps and prints, and antiquarian and rare books, for estate, tax, insurance or sale purposes. It should be noted that evaluating books and manuscripts is a professional service for which a fee is charged. The amount of the fee will depend on the quantity and value of the items appraised and the time and specialized knowledge required. The bookseller may waive the fee for material he or she subsequently purchases.
Due to a prolonged hospitalization of its president, the Czech Association has unfortunately been unable to attend the last Presidents' Meetings and the last Congresses. Neither Mr Petr Meissner, nor any other member of the committee of the Czech Association will also be able to attend the Congress and the book fair in Melbourne.
The aim of the association is to attain an antiquarian book trade of high quality, high professional standards, to improve professional and technical knowledge, to represent the dealers in their contacts with the Government and other authorities, and to support the legitimate interests of its members.
Membership of ABF should mean both for buyers and sellers that the bookseller is skilled with a good and thorough knowledge of books and prices. To become a member, one has to prove one's qualifications and have a minimum of three years' experience in the trade. The Committee must then find the applicant qualified for membership.
Since its beginning ABF has had all the main antiquarian booksellers as members. They have transmitted many good books both to libraries and private collectors, by means of their professional skills and good advice.
The Dane E. Grønholt Pedersen was one of the founders of ILAB/LILA. Another member of the Danish association, Hans Bagger, was president of the ILAB/LILA from 1985 to 1988. The current president of the Danish association, Poul Jan Poulsen, has been the League's Treasurer since 1991. In 2002 ABF arranged the 36th ILAB Congress with the other Nordic Antiquarian Booksellers Associations.
uomen Antikvariaattiyhdistys (SAY), the Finnish Antiquarian Booksellers Association, was founded in 1941.
In 1947, under the Presidency of Eric Olsoni, Suomen Antikvariaattiyhdistys participated in the founding of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers – La Ligue Internationale de la Librairie Ancienne (ILAB - LILA).
Suomen Antikvariaattiyhdistys has arranged an annual Antiquarian Book-Fair since 1988. Since 2001 the Antiquarian Book-Fair has been arranged as a part of the Helsinki Book Fair, with old and new books under the same roof.
In 2002 SAY arranged the 36th ILAB Congress with the other Nordic Antiquarian Booksellers Associations.
Suomen Antikvariaattiyhdistys has 25 members.
The Committee of SAY 2004-2005 has three members.
The Committee has a one year term.
SLAM includes about 225 book, autograph and print dealers, whose knowledge and professionalism are vouched for by strict admission rules. Consequently, they are experts in their fields of knowledge. They upkeep the tradition of bibliophily while preparing the bibliophily of tomorrow. They are devoted to the transmission of knowledge and to the preservation of culture. They will advise you on your purchases and can help you develop or sell your collections. Their sales catalogues are precious bibliographic tools.
SLAM organises each year in Paris an elegant International Bookfair (the FILA) which attracts about 100 dealers from all over the world. It is the best manifestation of its kind, due to the great French tradition of bibliophily.
Furthermore, the SLAM has been awarding since 1998 a yearly Bibliography Prize.
All items for sale are fully and accurately described, with all known defects disclosed.
All items are authentic and clearly priced.
All valuations and appraisals are fair and in keeping with the antiquarian book market.
The most important event of the VDA is the Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair which usually takes place in January and is the first international fair of the year. In 2004 more than 90 firms from all over the world took part. In 1986 a second fair was inaugurated in Cologne, which is now incorporated with the Kunst Messe Köln.
The VDA publishes a regularly updated directory of members in which are listed their addresses, internet information, opening times, specialities, catalogues etc. Upon application, a copy can be sent free of charge.
The homepage of the VDA provides recent information about the members with links to their own homepages, as well as information about the VDA activities and the book trade in general.
The committee of the Verband Deutscher Antiquare e.V. is elected by the members for two years.
Members are elected to the ABA solely on the basis of proven experience, expertise and integrity. They are required to observe the highest professional and ethical standards. The display of the Association’s badge pledges members to:
the authenticity of all material offered for sale
the expert and proper description of all such material
the disclosure of all significant defects or restorations
the clear, accurate and professional pricing of all material
the fairness and honesty of offers to purchase.
For the last forty years, the Association has run a small number of high quality book fairs. At present there are two major fairs each year. The Antiquarian Book Fair is held at Olympia during the June Antiques and Fine Arts fortnight, and the Chelsea Book Fair takes place in Chelsea Old Town Hall during November. A smaller fair with about 50 exhibitors is also held in Edinburgh each spring.
The Association also provides a Benevolent Fund for charitable use to help all UK antiquarian booksellers and their dependants, and also for educational purposes.
n an autumn day in 1947, a small group of bookdealers met in Milano to give life to the Circolo dei Librai Antiquari. They were not many, but they were set on granting a cultural dignity to the trade of antiquarian bookdealing, on fostering friendship and understanding with foreign colleagues, on cooperating with libraries and institutions for the conservation of cultural property, and on providing collectors with a garanteed code of ethics.
In 1971, the members of the association had added up to a few dozen when the Circle became the Associazione Librai Antiquari d'Italia. It now includes nearly 120 firms engaging in antiquarian bookdealing, equally spread throughout Italy, giving collectors the opportunity to meet with bookdealers, expert and professionnal, in all the towns.
The important Italian cultural patrimony allows Italian dealers to offer a large choice of rare books from the 15th to the 19th century, even if some firms are now specialising in modern art and litterature.
The ALAI, whose symbol is the well of wisdom (mark of the Venetian printer Fontana) has organised the ILAB Congress and International Book Fair of 1966 in Ravenna, of 1987 in Venice, as well as the Committee and Presidents Meeting in 1999. It also organises each fall an antiquarian book fair which is alternately held at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome and at the Palazzo Corsini in Florence.
The ABAJ has been involved in various activities including joint bookfairs by its members, the publication of bibliographical reference works, the sponsoring of lectures on antiquarian books, the organisation of field trips to private and institutional collections, and the donation of books to centers for senior citizens. In 1973 and 1990 the ABAJ hosted two ILAB Congresses and an International Bookfair held in Tokyo.
2004 marks the ABAJ’s fortieth anniversary. To commemorate this auspicious year, and to further promote the pleasure and importance of collecting antiquarian books, the ABAJ plans to organize an international book fair, as well as advancing relationships with its fellow Asian countries.
ABAK members adhere to the ILAB rules and regulations as well as its code of ethics. They aim to promote interest and friendship among members.
The ABAK organises a yearly antiquarian bookfair in Seoul. The market consists mainly of Korean early books and manuscripts.
The ABAK has at present 31 members.
At the moment there are 20 members, all with at least 5 years of practise as antiquarian booksellers. To become a member one also needs a recommendation from at least two members. All the NABF members adhere to the ILAB code of ethics. The NABF has its own website but also participates to the Scandinavian site for antiquarian booksellers, at the address: www.antikvariat.net.
The committee/board consists of four persons and there are elections every second year.
reated in Barcelona in 1990, the AILA asked to be admitted to the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers in 1992. Its membership was celebrated during the Presidents' Meeting of Los Angeles on 5th February 1994.
Until 1996, the AILA was presided by Pelegri Haro. Manuel Ripoll Billion has been its president since 1996.
The AILA organises yearly International Antiquarian Book Fairs, alternated between Madrid and Barcelona.
The AILA can be reached through its website www.ailalibros.com, in Spanish, French, English or German.
Lately many Swedish booksellers have specialized because of Internet. Sweden owns one third of the Scandinavian Search engine www.antikvariat.net together with Denmark and Norway which has become a very important instrument to search Scandinavian literature.
The Swedish association has today 65 members from Ystad in the south to Boden in the north.
The VEBUKU unites people dealing in old and modern prints and drawings, old and rare books, periodicals, manuscripts and autographs. Its aim is to protect and encourage a fair trade based on the experience and cultural responsibility of its members.
The annual and sole antiquarian bookfair in Switzerland (Antiquariats-Messe Zürich) is loyally supported by the VEBUKU.
The VEBUKU has its own Internet homepage (vebuku.ch) and their members use support the ILAB searchmachine.
The mission of the ABAA is to promote ethical standards and professionalism in the book trade, to encourage the collecting and preservation of antiquarian books and related materials, to support educational programs and research into the study of antiquarian books, and to facilitate collegial relations between booksellers, librarians, scholars, and collectors.
The ABAA has the strictest and most sweeping Ethics Code in the book trade, and all ABAA members are bound by it. The Ethics Code requires that all material offered for sale be authentic, be accurately described, and that a full cash refund, or other mutually agreeable settlement, be available to any purchaser for any item that is not authentic or not accurately described.
Membership is open to antiquarian booksellers of good character, reputation and credit rating who have been in business for four continuous years and require sponsorship of four current members of ABAA and three secondary sponsors.
Each year the ABAA sponsors book fairs in New York, Boston, and California (San Francisco and Los Angeles).