International League of Antiquarian Booksellers Elects Angus O'Neill as New President

The presidents of ILAB’s 22 member associations have elected a new committee headed by the new ILAB President Angus O'Neill.

He succeeds Mario Giupponi, who served as ILAB President from 2022 to 2024 and will continue as a member of the ILAB Committee for another term, and will be supported by the new ILAB Vice-President Mats Petersson.

Liam McGahern of Patrick McGahern Books in Canada and Robert Frew who has served as interim Treasurer since the departure of Treasurer Christopher Bailey in mid-2024, were also elected as new members at the recent Ordinary General Meeting in Amsterdam.

Past President Sally Burdon has left the ILAB Committee after over 10 years of dedicated work and was awarded the ILAB Medal for her exceptional services to the League.

The updated list of officers is now:

• Angus O'Neill (UK), President
• Mats Petersson (Sweden), Vice President
• Robert Frew (UK), Treasurer
• Nicolas Malais (France), General Secretary 

with committee members:

• Scott DeWolfe (US)
• Philipp Penka (Germany)
• Mario Giupponi (Italy)
• Liam McGahern (Canada)

Angus O'Neill is well prepared for his role as ILAB President having served for many years on the Council of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association in the UK, including as President from 2017 to 2019. As a member of the ILAB Committee since 2020, he has taken on the role of ILAB Security Chair, bringing his experience to the international rare book community.
 He has been a full-time antiquarian bookseller since graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1982

“I feel very lucky to have been elected by the best booksellers in the world to represent our trade," he said. "It is an honour, but it’s an honour which I intend to enjoy! There are challenges ahead. We must navigate between ever-increasing reams of government red tape, and a slew of entirely unregulated marketplaces. However, I know I will have the full support of my friends and colleagues, in particular our very impressive ILAB committee and our excellent Secretary.

"I’m a firm believer in the pleasures of buying, selling and owning rare books and similar materials, both for their aesthetic value and for their scholarly research potential. In a world which seems to be making this unnecessarily hard, I’ll do everything I can to make life easier for everyone who supports these modest ambitions.”