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!
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.
