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Message of the President
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news and topics
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2006/06/26
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Last month, we received a brief email from the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) stating that they had voted to cancel the 38th Congress of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) planned in Philadelphia. The reason for this sudden decision was that the participation was so low that "the ABAA would suffer a significant financial loss". This shocking announcement surprised many antiquarian booksellers throughout the world. Many arguments were made from various standpoints, causing a great stir in the antiquarian book community.
As I previously explained in this column, the ILAB Congress is held biannually, hosted each time by one of its member associations. During each Congress, the location of the next Congress is announced in the form of an "invitation" from the next hosting association, which is then approved by the other member associations. The decision to hold the 38th Congress was likewise confirmed by ABAA's formal invitation to the other members. It was not a hastily arranged or reluctantly accepted decision.
The previous three Congresses were held in Melbourne, Scandinavia and Edinburgh, and perhaps because these locations posed practical difficulties to some members, attendance was generally low. Therefore we were hoping that the Philadelphia Congress would attract more members due to its being held in a major U.S. city. However, our hopes were disappointed in a most unexpected way.
The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of Japan (ABAJ) has hosted two ILAB Congresses in the past. The 1990 Tokyo Congress, in particular, attracted 360 members and their families from all over the world and is still recalled by many as an example of a successful event. Many booksellers from various nations and backgrounds met with Japanese collectors and librarians, and I believe its success helped to further invigorate the antiquarian book trade in Japan.
ILAB, the sponsor of the Congress, and its board members are also responsible for failing to convince its 2,000 members in 21 nations of the importance of attending the ILAB Congress. Granted, the fact that recent technology has made it much easier for us to communicate across countries may have diminished the significance of meeting face to face. However, we had voted for the Philadelphia Congress; I believe there should have been more effort towards its realization. I feel this is an important time to discuss the future of the Congress.
In 1966, the ABAJ was founded by Japanese booksellers who united under the ILAB motto "Amor Librorum Nos Unit" to respond to the rapid globalization of the antiquarian book industry. It was accepted into the ILAB soon after. Since then, the ABAJ has rigorously observed the ILAB Code of Ethics and has grown to become one of its most important member associations. We therefore feel it our mission to send a delegate to discuss our future plans at the coming President's Meeting, which is planned to be held despite the cancellation of the Congress, although it is unavoidable that the concurrently planned New York Book Fair will also be cancelled.
For the past 30 years, the foreign antiquarian book trade in Japan has basically been an institutional market with university libraries purchasing the majority of materials. Western booksellers have viewed our market highly, and many first-rate books have been sold to Japanese institutions. Unlike private collectors, universities purchased for their permanent collections. Therefore our business as a bookseller was to purchase for these discriminating customers the very best material from prominent foreign booksellers, and our status as an ILAB member greatly benefited us in doing so. It is of great interest to our business that the ILAB continues to exist and operate healthily, and we believe it will be so too for emerging markets such as China, India and Russia.
Yushodo will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2007. During the past years, our reputation as a specialist book importer has grown to be acknowledged by booksellers and publishers throughout the world. However, the market and the demands of our customers are rapidly changing, and towards our 75th anniversary, we are planning to develop products based on new conceptions and new sales channels to meet such demands.
This year, we have co-published many Japanese books with LexisNexis, one of the largest legal information providers of the world. In spring we have published under the sponsorship of the Polish government a facsimile edition of an autograph score by Fryderyk Chopin. We have also succeeded in selling extremely valuable antiquarian books and collections to the United States through the cooperation of eminent American booksellers. Our challenge continues. In August, we will participate in the World Library and Information Congress in Seoul, sponsored by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). We hope to exhibit our products to the international library community during this event.
June 2006
Mitsuo Nitta
CEO, Yushodo Group of Companies
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