ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography
“Dans le monde du livre ancien et de la recherche bibliographique, deux personnages sont, jours après jours, confrontés à des problèmes de recherche, d’identification et d’évaluation d’oeuvres anciennes, précieuses ou non: Le conservateur de bibliothèque et le libraire antiquaire. Le second, tout particulièrement, car de sa science et de ses connaissences dépendent son commerce et sa réputation.“
Georges A. Deny
"I must say it sometimes seems there are rather a lot of Prizes. We have no sooner got over the Booker, the Whitbread and the Orange, when it’s time for the Baftas and the Oscars - and hundreds of others. But the League’s Bibliography Prize is different."
Raymond Kilgariff
16th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography 2014
Support scholarship and scientific research! Submit a book to the most prestigious prize until the end of April 2013!
A prize with prestige and tradition, a strong support for scholarship: The ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography of $10,000 US is awarded every fourth year to the authors of the most outstanding works on the history of the book. Famous scholars like Jean Peeters-Fontainas, I. C. Koeman and Anthony Hobson belong to the prize winners alongside Lotte Hellinga and Jan Storm van Leeuwen who were honoured with the 15th Prize in September 2010. Both, Lotte Hellinga's monumental "Catalogue of Books printed in the XVth Century now in the British Library, BMC. Part XI – England" and Jan Storm van Leeuwen's opus magnum on "Dutch Decorated Bookbinding in the Eighteenth Century" are shining examples for the enormous amount of knowledge - and work - which stands behind such brilliant studies in a scientific field that is essential for every kind of academic research, and for the rare book trade.
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: Arnoud Gerits (Distelvlinderweg 37 d, 1113 LA Diemen, Netherlands).
Any aspect of bibliography (e.g. enumerative, textual, history of the book, design, binding, book trade, etc.) is admitted. Manuscripts, catalogues of books intended for sale and translations of works appearing in another language are not eligible. Any book submitted to the Prize must be a published book and available for sale. The following excellent books about books have already been submitted, and the jury of the 16th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography is still looking for more!
>>> Click here to see the list of submitted books.
Celebrating Scholarship - Official Award of the 15h ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography, Bologna, 25th September 2010
The 39th ILAB Congress and 23rd International Antiquarian Book Fair in Bologna were the perfect occasion for the official award of one of the most prestigious prizes. In a ceremony on 25th September at Bologna’s Palazzo Isolani ILAB President Arnoud Gerits and the President of the B.H. Breslauer Foundation Felix de Marez Oyens honoured two scholars of worldwide reputation with the 15th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography: Lotte Hellinga and Jan Storm van Leeuwen.