He had a sense akin to second sight for what made books important or saleable. For more than sixty years, without ostentation but with an amazing range of knowledge, he put together and sent out several hundred catalogues on subjects as diverse as English literature (especially seventeenth-century), science and medicine, geography and travel to all the remoter parts of the world. Lawson & Co, the firm that his father had started at Sutton Coldfield in 1921, when he was demobbed from national service in the RAF in 1952. His initiative, built upon by Hans Bagger and Anthony Rota, paved the way for Anton Gerits and his successors to bring new associations into the fold." Keith Fletcher wrote to ILAB: "John Lawson was the first of what was to become a triumvirate of ILAB presidents intent on bringing the League to the attention of a much wider public. The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association has informed ILAB about the passing of John Lawson, ILAB President of Honour. Image: John Lawson (left) with Jonathan and Gillian Potter at the Past Presidents' Lunch in 2003
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