The viaLibri Blog

Registration is now open for our December showcase

We’re pleased to announce the dates for the next viaLibri Virtual Showcase will be:

Wednesday 3rd December (3pm GMT) – Monday 8th December (10pm GMT)

Following the success of our October showcase, which drew record visitor numbers from around the globe, we’re excited to open our virtual doors once again. This December also marks one year since our inaugural Virtual Showcase.

Registration for exhibitors is open now.

The registration fee is just $75 and allows you to list up to 60 items. viaLibri Harvest subscribers can register for free and easily copy items directly from their website into their showcase booth.

A commission applies when items sell through the showcase. You can find details of how this works here.

We look forward to welcoming even more visitors in December. Register today to secure your booth.

Find out more

A change of leadership at viaLibri

After more than 18 years as head of viaLibri, the time has come for me to retire and step back from the day-to-day grind of being CEO. Someone younger, smarter, and more energetic needs to move forward and take my place. Fortunately, my long tenure has also given me the great good fortune of knowing exactly who that person should be: our long-standing CTO, Alasdair North.

Booksellers who have worked with Alasdair already know that the viaLibri-dependent parts of their business will continue in excellent hands. His deep technical understanding and commitment to our mission make him the ideal person to lead viaLibri into its next chapter.

As for me, fear not. I have no plans to disappear completely. While Alasdair will be taking over my former role as CEO, I’ll be moving into a more congenial position as retired founder and Chairman of the Board. I’m entirely at ease knowing that the operation of the company I founded is being left in such capable hands.

A special thank you is due to the many booksellers, collectors, and librarians who have taken an interest in viaLibri over the years and helped to make it what it is today.

The viaLibri Blog will continue as before, and I hope to make an occasional appearance there when I have something new to say. I also hope to see new voices join the conversation, making it livelier and, I trust, more frequent.

Jim Hinck

You can find more details in our press release, or leave a comment below the blog post.

viaLibri Limited announces the appointment of Alasdair North as CEO

viaLibri Limited announces the appointment of Alasdair North as CEO of viaLibri Ltd., the world’s largest search engine for rare, antiquarian and out-of-print books.

North will assume his new role as CEO of viaLibri Ltd. as of October 24th, 2025. Mr. North has served as Chief Technology Officer of the company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, since 2015 – working there with founder, James A. Hinck, who will now retire as CEO and continue to serve as Chairman of the Board and strategic advisor.

“I’m deeply honored to lead viaLibri into its next chapter. Jim has built something truly special: a platform that has become an essential tool for the rare book trade. My focus will be on preserving what makes viaLibri indispensable to dealers and collectors while expanding our capabilities to serve them even better. We’ll continue investing in the tools that help dealers run successful businesses, make it easier for collectors to find those elusive titles, and ensure that researchers can access the information they need. The rare book trade is evolving rapidly with virtual book fairs, online auctions, new selling platforms, and the expanding use of AI, and viaLibri will evolve with it while remaining true to our mission of being the most comprehensive and reliable resource for the antiquarian book community” said Alasdair North, Chief Executive Officer of viaLibri.

Mr. North brings over a decade of leadership at viaLibri to his new role as CEO, having shaped the platform’s technological evolution since joining the company. As CTO, North has been instrumental in many of the improvements that have been made to viaLibri.net over the past ten years, including the mobile-friendly redesign of the website, the development of the viaLibri Virtual Showcase book fair platform, the integration of eBay searching and innumerable smaller additions. A Cambridge University graduate and book collector himself, North combines deep technical expertise with genuine appreciation for the antiquarian book community. North attended the York Antiquarian Book Seminar (YABS) in 2022 and has become a familiar presence among English dealers and collectors, many of whom are daily visitors to a website he helped to build to its current position as the world’s largest search engine for old and rare books.

As Founder, Chairman and former CEO of the company, Jim Hinck says that he has “great confidence in Alasdair’s ability to continue growing our company in an age of many technical and entrepreneurial challenges, including the advancement of artificial intelligence in all businesses, the demands of marketing in a complex commercial environment, and the need for excellent team leadership in the achievement of our exciting and ambitious goals.”

Hinck founded viaLibri in 2006 after recognising that existing book search platforms failed to meet the sophisticated needs of serious bibliophiles and scholars. As a book dealer and self-taught programmer, Hinck created viaLibri.net to provide the best possible access to the rare book world for collectors, librarians, and booksellers. Under his visionary leadership, the website grew from a simple search tool to a cornerstone of the worldwide trade in rare and antiquarian books, connecting tens of thousands of dealers and collectors around the globe.

ViaLibri Limited, viaLibri.net, is a search engine for old, rare, and out of print books. The site can be used to search for books for sale across over 180 different websites, as well as providing quick access to many different Western institutional and library holdings. Regularly, viaLibri.net hosts a Virtual Showcase, an online book fair offering a chance for booksellers to feature their current important holdings for sale.

The fifth viaLibri Virtual Showcase is now open!

Today is the first day of the latest viaLibri Virtual Showcase…

This online book fair has many international booksellers taking part – and we’re introducing you to some of them here, and on social media – so take a look at their chosen highlights and their booths:

The Alta Collection

Specialists in early books and manuscripts related to William Shakespeare.

One highlight being: Manuscript fragment of Vincent of Lérins’ Commonitorium. A previously unknown manuscript written in Elizabethan handwriting with palaeographic features linking it closely to Shakespeare’s.

Plain Wrapper Press Redux

Specialists in finely-printed contemporary limited editions of poetry, short stories, and scholarly texts, illustrated with photogravures, wood engravings, silk-screen prints, and archival inkjet prints.

One highlight being: Declaration of Sentiments. A manifesto that emerged from the 1848 women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, re-published on its 175th anniversary.

Harrison-Hiett

Specialists in caricature, and illustrated items, Catholic and Anti Catholic material. Plus (as French residents) wine and winemaking!

One highlight being a ‘Showcase Exclusive’: Le Canard. A wonderful illustrated satirical attack on the Parisian aristocracy for their perceived disrespect following the funeral of Victor Hugo in 1885.

Crossroads Books

Specialists in occult and geology – books, maps, and ephemera.

One highlight being: The Occult Sciences. The Philosophy of Magic, Prodigies and Apparent Miracles. Going back to Egypt and the priesthood which was hidden from the public eye. It compares the author’s time to that time, and the Church hidden mysteries held by the priests.

Peter Austern & Co/ Brooklyn Books

Specialists in signed books and ephemera.

One highlight being a ‘Showcase Exclusive’: US Army Vietnam Combat Correspondent 1969-1970. A spiral bound album from SSGT Timothy F. Palmer, who was a military war correspondent. Many of the images are footnoted with a narrative, along with the photographs and Palmer’s uniform patches & Press ID cards.

La Bouquinerie du Varis

A generalist seller, based in beautiful Switzerland.

One highlight being: Eloge de la folie. Nouvellement traduit du latin par Pierre de Nolhac. In English ‘In praise of madness’. Newly translated from Latin by Pierre de Nolhac. Coloured images by Chas-Laborde. Magnificent binding signed Lucy Weith and dedication by the illustrator with a pencil drawing for the bookbinder.

Visit the Virtual Showcase Wednesday 8th October – Monday 13th October:

Browse rare works on paper from international dealers entirely at your convenience, at any time of the day, or night.
Start collecting, or expand your collection, discovering newly-listed items and hidden gems
Discover items which are ‘exclusive’ as they are not yet on the open market.
Search and filter using viaLibri’s advanced online tools, and tailor your search to match your collecting interests and budget.
Easily compare items and prices across booths and dealers, maximising value and saving time.

Head to the Showcase now!

Enter the showcase

View items exclusive to the showcase

Registration is open now for our October showcase

Time to mark your calendar with the dates for the next viaLibri Virtual Showcase:

Wednesday 8th October (3pm BST) – Monday 13th October (10pm BST).

With a selection of international booksellers offering hand-picked stock on all kinds of subjects, we hope you will join us for the next Virtual Showcase, and look forward to the fair opening on Wednesday October 8th.

As with our previous Showcase, the registration fee is $75, which allows you to list up to 60 items. There are no upfront charges beyond the registration fee – exhibitors only pay a small commission on items they sell. In addition, if you are a viaLibri Harvest subscriber then the registration fee will be waived. The only charges you will face will be the commission payments that are due if you make a sale.

You can learn more about how Showcase commissions work by clicking here.

Find out more

Question: What is 2626?

Question: How many books will be for sale at the viaLibri Virtual Rare Book Showcase when it opens on July 31? Answer: 2626

Question: What is the value of the items that will be for sale? Answer: More than $6,000,000

Question: How many booksellers will have rare and wonderful books for sale at our Showcase. Answer: 58

eBay auction data is now available through viaLibri

We are pleased to announce that, as of last week, live eBay auctions are now covered by viaLibri’s search engine. This is in addition to the “buy it now” listings which we covered already. viaLibri now fully covers all book listings on eBay.

The time sensitive nature of auctions means that they pair particularly well with our saved search service, Libribot. If you add the details of an item to your Libribot wants list then we will check several times a day to see if any matching eBay auctions have started. We’ll then email you details of the new listing.

Ready to get started? Simply search as usual. eBay auction results will now appear seamlessly alongside our other listings from more than 170 sites worldwide.

Registration is open now for viaLibri Virtual Showcase #4

We are pleased to announce the Fourth and Latest Edition of the viaLibri Virtual Rare Book Showcase. We feel sure you will want to take part. Among other new features it introduces important innovations in the way showcase exhibitors are charged. With previous versions you were required to pay up front the full cost of exhibiting. You were charged regardless of whether or not any items were sold. This meant that you could pay a significant registration fee and yet still not sell a thing.

We decided there had to be a better way. The time had come to try something new.

Beginning with Showcase #4 the registration fee has been reduced from $150 to $75 while still letting you list up to 60 items. There will be no additional charges if you do not make a sale – There is only a small commission paid by exhibitors based on what they sell. In addition, if you are a viaLibri Harvest subscriber then the registration will be waived. The only charges you will be the commission payments that are due if you make a sale.

We are convinced that this new low risk payment model will prove to be very popular with all the booksellers who decide to give it a try.

You can learn more about how Showcase commissions work by clicking here.

Find out more

What We Learned From Our First Three Showcases (And What To Look For Next) Next)

Just in case you had been wondering, we thought we should let you know that another viaLibri Virtual Showcase will be happening again soon. Preparations have already begun.

When we first began back in December we weren’t at all certain how booksellers and collectors would respond to seeing yet another virtual event claiming space on their already crowded calendars. Now that much helpful feedback has been received we are ready to apply our lessons to showcase number 4.

After our third showcase, we heard a similar concern from several booksellers: “I love your website, but what if I don’t sell anything?” It’s a fair worry. Trying a new sales channel involves risk, especially when dealing with rare or specialized items that need patience and effort to sell. That feedback set us to thinking: What could we do to eliminate the risk?

To answer the question we decided to try something different. At our next showcase you will only have to pay $75 to be an exhibitor and will be able to display up to 60 books for sale.

The twist? If nothing sells, that’s all you will pay. Only when you actually sell something do we charge a small commission (4-10%), invoiced after the showcase has closed.

Additionally, if you are one of our Harvest Level Premium Subscribers your savings will extend even further and you will pay no registration fee at all. For everyone we say, “Try us out. See what happens. If it doesn’t work for you it costs you nothing.”

We have seen great books find eager buyers at every showcase so far. Serious bibliophiles are highly motivated in pursuit of their interests. Selling should not be hard. The only thing needed is for the right book to meet the right collector. We also understand that building a new marketplace takes time, and not every book finds an immediate buyer.

Our new marketing model reflects that reality. We are confident in our platform and our growing community of book lovers, but we also want our booksellers to feel secure in the possibilities we aim to offer on our site.

Whether you’re a showcase veteran or someone who has so far only been curious or cautious, now feels like the perfect time to give our showcase a try. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? You only need to showcase some of your choicest and freshest books to an engaged audience. If you sell nothing it costs you nothing. And who knows whom you may meet in the process.

In the meantime we recommend that you sign up for our mailing list so you don’t miss the chance to register for the upcoming showcase.

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Dante approverebbe. | We think Dante would approve.

(An English translation can be found below.)

Abbiamo buone notizie per tutti i bibliofili italiani che visitano regolarmente il nostro sito: l’interfaccia utente di viaLibri è ora disponibile anche in italiano, portando a quattro il numero di lingue utilizzabili dai nostri visitatori.

Per scegliere la tua lingua preferita, ti basta cliccare una delle bandierine visibili in alto a destra. Le opzioni sono inglese, francese, tedesco e ora anche italiano, tutte le lingue presenti anche nel Virtual Rare Book Showcase.

Le descrizioni dei libri e gli altri contenuti creati dagli utenti continueranno naturalmente a comparire nella loro lingua originale. Per questi, continueremo a offrire la nostra funzione di traduzione integrata, che consente di accedere facilmente a una traduzione completa nella lingua selezionata.

Queste funzionalità saranno particolarmente utili per chi utilizza il nostro nuovo Virtual Showcase, dove è facile imbattersi in articoli e venditori di lingue diverse. Inoltre, se stai pensando di partecipare all’ultimo momento come espositore e hai una selezione di libri o clienti italiani, questo potrebbe essere il momento giusto per registrarti.

We have good news to report for all Italian bibliophiles who regularly visit our site: the viaLibri user interface now also comes with an Italian version, bringing to four the number of languages our visitors can use.

To choose your preferred language you only need to click one of the flags displayed in the upper right corner. The options are English, French, German, and now Italian, all of which will continue to be a part of the Virtual Rare Book Showcase as well.

Book descriptions and other user-created content will, of course, continue to appear in their original language. For these we will continue to provide our integrated translation feature, which makes it easy to access a full translation of all the item descriptions in your chosen language.

These features should be especially useful for anyone using our new Virtual Showcase where they can expect to encounter items and sellers from a variety of languages. Additionally, if you are considering becoming a last-minute exhibitor and have a number of Italian books and/or customers then this might be a good time for you to join in.