About

Company profile

Robin Halwas entered the rare book trade in London in 1977 as cataloguer for the renowned booksellers E.P. Goldschmidt & Company Limited (established 1919). By then, the traditional Goldschmidt specialities – early printed books in the fields of Humanism, Reformation, Science and Medicine, text manuscripts, and historical bookbindings – had been augmented by illustrated books of later date, above all architectural treatises, writing manuals, emblem and festival books.

After ten years, Robin left E.P. Goldschmidt and commenced trading on his own account, dealing in the many sorts of books he had been handling there. Some thirty years later, his stock remains eclectic and diverse, with a concentration on rarity and quality. The main areas of expertise are historical bookbindings and the printed sources of Western Art, including treatises on art, architecture, and perspective, from the 1485 first edition of Alberti’s De re aedificatoria to the mid-19th century, books on garden design, interior decoration and ornament, the performing arts, the applied arts, early museum catalogues, and suites of prints documenting drawings and paintings. Bibliographical tools and reference books appropriate to these subjects are also offered for sale. A small stock of prints, drawings, paintings, Renaissance and Baroque medals, and other works of art, is maintained.

Robin Halwas focuses on long-term relationships with private collectors in his areas of specialisation, at the same time advising and supplying major research libraries in Europe and the United States. He works from an office in the centre of London, close to both major auction houses. Visitors are asked to make appointments in advance.

Robin Halwas Limited is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA) of Great Britain, and of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). Our terms of business are in accordance with the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association Code of Good Practice and as set out below.

Antiquarian Bookseller's Association

Publications

Ten years ago, the traditional means of delivering information to customers (the printed stock catalogue) was supplanted by publications describing either small collections or single volumes. These in turn have been discontinued, superseded by PDF files distributed by email to those on our mailing list. If you wish to subscribe, please fill the field “Sign up for our newsletter of Recent Acquisitions” in the website footer.

Lists & Catalogues 1987-2005

Services

We act as commission agents in the auction salerooms here in London and abroad. We can assess the quality and condition of the object offered, deal with issues of attribution and authenticity, and conduct provenance research as necessary. We can advise on value, execute bids, and organise shipment.

We advise and assist collectors establishing, augmenting, and maintaining private libraries. We accept commissions to assemble libraries tailored to the specific interests of the client, which may be sourced from auctions, the book trade, and private collections. We can advise on packing and moving collections, upgrading the arrangement of books, shelving and storage. We can perform inventories, write descriptions of single items, and catalogue entire collections of rare books. We can undertake condition surveys and liaise with restorers and bookbinders to address any problems discovered.

We undertake valuations for insurance and probate, with fees normally charged on a per diem basis.

We advise collectors, their heirs and/or executors, in selling at auction single items or entire collections. We can provide an independent valuation, locate the best venue, and negotiate reserves. We can obtain import/export licenses where necessary, and ensure that the objects are securely packed and transported to the saleroom. We can provide client confidentiality when this is required.

The Company has been actively involved in building important collections for both libraries and private collectors over the last thirty years. As well as selling books, we are always interested in the purchase of single items or whole collections in our fields of interest, and are able to make immediate payment at fair market value. If you are interested in buying or selling, please contact us.

Terms and Conditions of Sale

Items offered on this website are subject to change in availability and price without prior notice.

All goods are guaranteed to be authentic and any defects will be noted in our descriptions. Any item found not to correspond with its description may be returned within 30 days for a full refund of the original purchase price. Please inspect all items upon receipt and advise us immediately if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

Sales concluded exclusively by electronic mail or other methods of distance communication with private buyers (not dealers, or institutions) within the EU are governed by the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. Eligible buyers have the right to cancel and return an order for whatever reason within 14 days from date of receipt. A model cancellation form is provided here. The purchase price and cost of delivery will be refunded within 14 days of return.

Goods ordered ‘on approval’ are sent for a term of seven days, unless otherwise specified on the accompanying invoice. When this term elapses, the sale shall be deemed to be concluded, if the goods have not been returned. If the goods are returned, they must be in the same condition in which they were sold. Shipping costs both ways are borne by the prospective buyer. While goods are ‘on approval’ risk of loss (and title) remains with us.

Orders are consolidated and usually ship with four working days. Deliveries in the United Kingdom are usually made within an additional 2-3 working days, while deliveries overseas may take an additional 10 working days. All parcels are fully insured at our expense. Shipping is charged at cost. Shipments with a value in excess of £350 and all international orders are despatched by courier (Federal Express for overseas deliveries). Couriered deliveries are not made to Post Office addresses; they require a telephone contact number, and signature on delivery. Certain items may require a United Kingdom export license (for guidance, see link). Delivery cannot be made until the license is granted, which usually takes around four weeks. The customer is responsible for any import taxes, customs fees or duties, merchandise, sales or user taxes applied to international shipments.

Printed books are zero-rated for VAT (Value Added Tax). Certain non-book items advertised on our website are standard-rated (20%). Prices stated for such items are VAT inclusive. If the purchased item is promptly exported from the European Union, the VAT is ordinarily refunded. Our VAT Registration Number is GB 394 6253 24.

Prepayment is normally requested for all new customers, and the preferred method of payment is via PayPal. Payment also is accepted by bank transfer in GBP£ sterling, or by prior arrangement in US$ Dollars, or € Euros. The buyer is responsible for all bank charges relating to such transactions. Payment arrangements will be specified at the time of order confirmation and detailed on the invoice. Members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) qualify for a 10% trade discount. Prices are net to all others. Payment in all cases is due in full within thirty days after the date on the invoice. Legal title will pass only after payment including delivery costs and any VAT is received in full. The purchaser is obligated to keep possession of the goods, not sell the goods, or hand the goods over to any other person, or dispose of any interest in the goods, until full payment has been made.

In the event that full payment is not received within the relevant period, we will be entitled to either (1) charge interest on the amount unpaid at the rate of 5% per annum above Lloyds Bank base rate until payment has been received in full; or (2) terminate the contract for sale, repossess the books, and claim damages for any loss we have suffered, and the costs of recovery and restoration of the goods.

Disputed transactions are subject to the laws of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Customers within the European Union who have a complaint about a product bought online may submit their complaint to the ODR platform (http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/).

Terms and Conditions of Website usage

Use of www.robinhalwas.com is governed by these Terms and Conditions. By using the Site you indicate that you accept the Terms and Conditions and that you agree to abide by them.

All images and text on this Site are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws and may only be used with our permission. Please do not cut text or images and redistribute by email or post to the web without written permission. You may share using our tools (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest). Unauthorised use of this Site may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offence.

Copyright © 2017 Robin Halwas Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Commentary and other materials posted on our Site are not intended to amount to advice and may be inaccurate or out of date. We therefore disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed by you or any other party on any Content or information appearing on our Site. These web pages may contain inadvertent inaccuracies or typographical errors. These will be corrected at Robin Halwas Limited's discretion, as they are found. To the fullest extent legally permitted the Content displayed on our site is provided without any representations, guarantees, warranties, terms or conditions as to its accuracy, quality or fitness for a particular purpose.

This website includes links to other websites. These links are provided for your convenience to provide further information. Robin Halwas Limited accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage that may arise from any other third party website referred to or accessed by hypertext link through the Site. You may link to our Site, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.

Robin Halwas Limited makes all reasonable attempts to exclude computer viruses from these web pages, but it cannot ensure this exclusion and no liability is accepted for viruses. It is strongly recommended that you check for such viruses before downloading it or its contents.

Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Privacy Policy

We store, but do not share personal information collected on this website, unless we are required to do so by law, or if you violate out Terms of Service. We collect and store data that relates to, and can identify you (e.g. your name and address, email address, and telephone number, when you provide these details to create an account or complete a transaction) and information that does not identify you (e.g. the IP address of your device, geographical location, browser type, length of visit, and pages viewed when navigating our website). We might use this information to remember you when you return to our website and track your browsing patterns by using cookies. We do not share customer details with third parties. We do not store customer credit card details.

A cookie is a small text file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. Cookies can be used by web servers to identify and track users as they navigate different pages on a website and identify users returning to a website. Cookies may be either "persistent" cookies or "session" cookies: a persistent cookie is stored by a web browser and remains until a set expiry date, unless deleted by the user; a session cookie expires at the end of the user's session, when the web browser is closed. We use cookies on our website to recognise a computer or mobile device when a user visits the website, track users as they navigate the website, improve the website's usability, analyse the use of the website, administer the website, prevent fraud, improve the security of the website, personalise the website for our users. Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies. The lifetime for a cookie on our website is 48 hours.

We also use third-party cookies set by Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a web analysis service provided by Google. Google utilizes the data collected to track and examine the use of www.robinhalwas.com, to prepare reports on its activities and share them with other Google services. Google Analytics complies with the requirements of the EU Cookie Law (privacy policy available at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy).

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, however you can modify your settings to decline cookies (to do this look at the “help” menu on your browser, or follow the appropriate link below:

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You can correct or amend any information you have voluntarily given us by accessing your account pages on the website, by emailing mail@robinhalwas.com, or by writing to us at Robin Halwas Limited, Post Office Box 61788, London SW1P 9NQ. You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you. To obtain a copy, please send an email to mail@robinhalwas.com. There will be an administrative charge of £10 for providing a copy of this information.

No data transmission over the Internet can be entirely secure, and therefore we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information and/or use of the website. Any information that you send is at your own risk and may be read by others. However once we have received your personal information we use physical and electronic procedures to safeguard and secure your personal information.

Impressum

Robin Halwas Limited is registered in England (Company number 02316899) and its registered address is c/o Hornbeam Accountancy Services Ltd, Hornbeam House, Bidwell Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR13 6PT. The Company is registered with HM Revenue and Customs for VAT (Registration number GB 394 6253 24). The postal address is Robin Halwas Limited, Post Office Box 61788, London SW1P 9NQ, United Kingdom.

robinhalwas.com is owned, managed, and operated by Robin Halwas Limited. All content on this site © 2017 by Robin Halwas Limited. All rights reserved.

Photography by Peter White, FXP Photography. Website designed by Sodesign and developed by Pauline Le Pallec. Contact webmaster.


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