ABOUT US

Welcome to Libri Orfani, the sanctuary for books with a past! Our journey began in 2012 with the acquisition of the antiquarian bookshop “Joyce Royce.” Fast forward a few years, and we’ve also adopted the entire collection of “In den Eenhoorn,” a charming little antiquarian shop from Bruges that closed its doors in May 2018. Our collection now boasts over 30,000 books, each patiently waiting to find a new home—maybe on your bookshelf!

Building this website has been a labor of love, much like the ancients built their cities—over time, with an ever-changing plan, and occasionally atop the ruins of earlier ideas. While our website may have a few quirks (like any good city), the treasures it holds are unified by the soul of the collective. After all, we believe in the grand design of the universe: unity in variety, with a dash of whimsy.

Every listing here includes the six sacred necessities of bookselling: author (or an equally fascinating equivalent), title, place of publication (if the stars align), date of publication (or thereabouts), a physical description, and a bibliographical conclusion. Think of it as the ultimate dating profile for books—just without the awkward first date.

We’re serious about books, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. At Libri Orfani, the books are always the stars of the show, and we’re just the humble stagehands.

Our photography is done with one goal in mind: to give you a clear, honest view of each item. No sneaky camera angles, no filters, no Photoshopping out the wrinkles—just the book, flaws and all.

We never spin “fine” into a term that can safely be used for a book with faults, so we don’t use hypnotising enhancements like fine plus, fine indeed, very fine, unusually fine, extremely fine, exceptionally fine, exceedingly fine, extraordinarily fine, awesomely fine, astonishingly fine, implausibly fine, unbelievably fine, or unimaginably fine.

Libri Orfani is proud to be 100% green. Every item listed for sale has been recycled, some of them more times than we can count. However, we do ship those books to you, which, we admit, might cause a few polar ice caps to melt. We’re sorry about that. But look at it this way—your new book won’t end up in a landfill, and that’s got to count for something, right?