Rare book collecting is booming as young people raised in the digital age seek tangible connections to the past.
In 1947, booksellers from five countries – Denmark, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden – gathered in Amsterdam ‘with the aim of establishing new hope for international peace through open markets, to foster friendship and understanding, and to counteract the animosity and suspicion engendered by the Second World War.’ A year later, at a second meeting in Copenhagen, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) was officially incorporated. Since 1953, the ILAB logo has proudly borne the motto ‘Amor Librorum Nos Unit’: the love of books unites us.
Then, in 1949, a group of fifty American booksellers met at the Grolier Club in New York City. More focused on ethics and promotion of the trade itself, they agreed to form a league of their own. Their first official meeting was held at Parke-Bernet Galleries – now Sotheby’s – and thus the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) was born.
The first American antiquarian book fair took place several years later in April 1960, with 22 dealers occupying 20 booths. Admission was free. Despite rain and storms on opening night, there were lines around the block to get in.
Now in its 66th year, the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America’s (ABAA) New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF) was recently held at the Park Avenue Armory. And the visitors were still lining up. Guests moved through presentations from 174 exhibitors from around the world, encountering rare books, manuscripts, maps and artefacts spanning centuries. Total attendance reached 15,400 over four days, with 2,400 on opening night alone. In fact, there has been a 62 per cent growth in visitors from 2022 to 2026.
And people are buying. Reports put the value of the global rare book market at over $7 billion with an expected growth rate above 6 per cent per year.