ILAB Patrons of Honour

ILAB is honoured to enjoy the patronage of several very distinguished individuals who have not only achieved world renown in their own chosen fields, but have made outstanding contributions within the world of books and manuscripts.

ILAB Patrons of Honour are nominated by the national associations that are the members of the League.

Their commitment to the preservation of printed culture makes them by turns 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.

In that commitment they represent a singlemindedness of purpose and reverence for the printed word that is embodied in the motto of the League:

Amor Librorum Nos Unit - The Love of Books Unites Us

Sir David Attenborough

British broadcaster, naturalist, and book collector

Appointed by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA)

David Cronenberg

Canadian filmmaker and book collector

Appointed by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada

Umberto Eco

Author, scholar, and book collector

Appointed by the Associazione Librai Antiquari d'Italia (ALAI)

René Fayt

Bibliographer, author, and book collector

Appointed by the Chambre Professionelle Belge de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne / Belgische Beroepskamer van Antiquaren (CLAM / BBA)

Murray G. Hall

Professor of German Literature at the University of Vienna, President of the Society of Book History in Austria, author of numerous works about the history of Austrian publishing with special emphasis on the history of the Austrian National Library under the Nazi regime.

Appointed by the Verband der Antiquare Österreichs (VAO)

Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark

His Royal Highness, Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, husband of Margrethe II. Queen of Denmark, is a great bibliophile and poet who has written many poems in his native language French, some of which have been published in collections like Chemin faisant (1982), Les escargots de Marie Lanceline (2003) and Frihjul (2010). The symphonic suite Cantabile by Frederik Magle is based on his poetry collection Cantabile published in the year 2000.

Appointed by Den Danske Antikvarboghandlerforening (ABF)

Barry Humphries

Comedian, satirist, artist, author, and book collector

Appointed by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) and the Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers (ANZAAB)

David Malouf

Author of novels including Johnno, Remembering Babylon (shortlisted for the Booker Prize), An Imaginary Life, Harland's Half Acre, and an autobiographical classic 12 Edmondstone Street. Print and book collector.

Appointed by the Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers (ANZAAB)

Jay and Jean Kislak

Managers, art curators, book collectors, founders of the Jay I. Kislak Foundation and the Kislak Fellowship in American Studies at the Library of Congress

Appointed by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA)

Michael Knoche

Director of the Anna Amalia Library (Weimar), author, scholar, editor, and book collector. Under Michael Knoche’s guidance the Anna Amalia Library was rebuilt after its destruction through fire in 2004.

Appointed by the Verband Deutscher Antiquare (VDA)

Reiner Speck

Scientist, author, editor, founder of the Marcel Proust Society and the Reiner Speck Foundation. His famous Biblioteca Petrarchesca and Bibliotheca Proustiana are open to the public in a museum designed by the architect Oswald Mathias Ungers.

Appointed by the Verband Deutscher Antiquare (VDA)

Sid Lapidus

Retired partner of Warburg Pincus (New York), founder of the Sidney and Ruth Lapidus Professorship in the American Revolutionary Era at Princeton University, author, and book collector

Appointed by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA)