Dear Reader,
A small update from Idea Books.
We are pleased to inform you that we are making good progress with the rebuilding of our warehouse. We have set up the first shelving and have started receiving stock. At the moment, we are waiting for the fiber-optic internet connection so that we can install our server and resume picking and shipping operations. We expect this to be completed within the next two weeks and aim to be fully operational again around the end of May 2026.
In the meantime, our ordering system remains fully running, so please feel free to place your orders at any time.
We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding during this period and look forward to supplying you again very soon.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Thank you very much for your continued support!
The Idea Books team
Hurray! The first shelving units have been delivered to our new warehouse. This means we will soon be ready to start filling them with books 📚 📚 📚
Thank you for your patience and support ❤️
Hi everyone,
A quick update from Idea Books!
We’ve moved into our new warehouse and the layout is all set. We’re now ordering furniture and everything else we need, and the team is busy getting things up and running again.
We’re not able to receive or ship orders just yet, but we expect to be back to normal in the next few weeks.
Thanks so much for your patience and all the support - it really means a lot to us.
Please note our new address:
IDEA BOOKS
Danzigerbocht 27-C
1013 AM Amsterdam
The Netherlands
www.ideabooks.nl
This weekend, from 15-17 May 2026, you can find us at Offprint London!
Even though we are currently very busy restarting operations in our new warehouse, we felt it was important to reconnect with the book community at this special London appointment - one we would not want to miss.
This time we will bring only a small selection of books, but we would be very happy to catch up and have a chat.
See you soon in London!
More info below:
Location
180 Studios
180 Strand, Temple,
London WC2R 1EA
Dates and times
Friday 15 May: 15:00 - 21:00
Saturday 16 May: 12:00 - 20:00
Sunday 17 May: 11:00 - 18:00
Free entry
@offprint_projects
We are very happy to introduce ”Some Letters“ by Henni Alftan. This ABC book takes a look at everyday objects hiding in plain sight – and invites you to see them in a whole new way. Some letters have been found. But others are still waiting for you to discover them. Find them all. Get your copy now.
First edition of 300 copies
Cardboard book, 16 pages, 18 × 25.5 cm
Fr./€ 28.00 (plus shipping)
Available directly from @rookie_books , @karmabookstore or via @ideabooksnl
#hennialftan #artistbook #kidsbook #rookiebooks #abc
NL25 by Maas Lawrence.
143 projects by 134 architects, collected in one volume surveying recent architecture across the Netherlands.
Head to the link in bio for your own copy.
#NL25
@ideabooksnl
To have an idea: during my most difficult period -the passing of my mother -working on this project gave me a sense of community and warm support. While I am a harsh critic of my own work, this project is an exception; the structure and the small / big decisions remain intuitive, natural and comfortable to me.
I thank ideabooks team for inviting me to this project. Plus! working with Johannes (Schwartz) was the best thing; we didn't have to explain so much to each other. And Stefano @stefanovanderknaap from Robstolk helped this book realize its best form.
Indeed, this project brought back to me, the joy of working together with good people again.
And most of all; we were able to save these books from the horrible incidents. Happy to be able to celebrate 50th birthday of ideabooks with this one. Long live Ideabooks :D
📢📢
Open today and tomorrow:
50 Years of Idea Books (1976-2026)
📦📚📦📚📦
Idea Books turned 50 on April 1, 2026. To celebrate this anniversary, we had planned an exhibition at Enter Enter, showcasing materials from the historic archive of Idea Books. However, following a fire that broke out on Friday, March 20, 2026, their warehouse – and everything it contained – was lost, including the Idea Books archive. But Idea Books is more than a warehouse. It is a network of people: a family that supports one another, with each of them carrying fragments of its history. For this reason, we have decided to move forward with the exhibition, which now takes a different form. It presents a selection of historic books from the archive of John Simons (founder of Idea Books), publications from the personal collections of Idea Books team members, and a newly published book celebrating 50 years together – fortunately not yet delivered to the warehouse at the time of the fire. The exhibition also includes our new spring catalogue and a selection of photographs by Johannes Schwarz, portraying Idea Books team members holding their favourite book. The space is also currently being used as a small storage area, where some parcels for Idea Books are collected.
📍 Open 1-5 on Friday and Saturday
📍 Nieuwe Herengracht 11
Poster and book designed by @dongyoungleee ; photography by Johannes Schwarz. Idea Books catalogue designed by @ayhgnl
✨✨
YES - we’ve got a new space! It’s big and bright 🙌
We’re super excited about this move, it all happened way sooner than we ever expected!
Right now, we’re focused on getting things up and running again as quickly as possible. We’re working hard to set up a fully functional workspace, but it’ll take a bit of time because we want to do it properly.
Thanks so much for your patience while we get everything sorted. We can’t wait to be back and serve you even better than before!
Thanks a lot for your continued support ❤️
Idea Books team
P.S.
Our email and systems are up and running. We are able to register (trade) orders, and you can place orders via the trade site; however, we are not yet able to ship orders or provide estimated delivery times. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email. We may be a bit slower in responding than usual, and we truly appreciate your understanding.
And please continue to:
READ BOOKS
BUY BOOKS
BUY LOCAL
50 years ago today, on April Fools’ Day, John Simons founded Idea Books. We definitely imagined celebrating this anniversary a bit differently, but we still want to take a moment to thank John for his vision and for creating the amazing community that Idea Books is today. As he put it:
“A huge amount has been lost, but it doesn’t need me to tell you that Idea Books is much more than a warehouse, even one filled with beautiful books.
Firstly, it’s people (staff), and perhaps most important, a community - publishers, booksellers, customers… an IDEA (Phoenix) that remains unscathed and will rise from the ashes.”
Here’s to many more years of Idea Books! Thank you, John and thanks to all our staff, representatives, publishers, customers, and all other people we work with for the hard work and support over the years.
And now, back to rolling up our sleeves - we’ll be back distributing beautiful books around the world very soon!
Image of the old warehouse at Nieuwe Herengracht 11, Amsterdam. Photograph by Anu Vahtra.
Thank you all for your support - we are deeply moved!
We would like to reassure everyone that we are sorting things out and are actively looking for a new location so we can resume operations as soon as possible.
Our email and systems are up and running again, and we are able to register (trade) orders; however, we are currently unable to ship orders or provide estimated delivery times. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
You can reach us via email, but please note that responses may be delayed.
We’ll be back soon 💪🏼💪🏼
Love,
Idea Books
Photo courtesy of @hans.gremmen ❤️
