About us

Antiquariaat Fokas Holthuis specializes in literature in first and special editions, bibliophile and illustrated books, Dutch and English private presses, original manuscripts, letters and literary archives. Our business can only be visited by appointment, when we know what your interest is. Fokas Holthuis is a member of the international professional antiquarian booksellers’ association ILAB and of the Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Antiquaren.

Fokas Holthuis (1964) is the founder of our business. In Nijmegen he followed the inspiring lectures of Piet Buijnsters and Kees Fens, but he stopped his studies and registered with the Chamber of Commerce – on 11 April 1994. His love for unique items such as manuscripts and photographs was already shown in his very first catalogs. Fokas loves the adventure that every purchase is (from a few special books to large libraries). His ‘bombproof’ parcels are widely known.

Paul Snijders (1954) graduated in 1983 in Typography at the AKI academy of arts in Enschede. Thereafter he worked at Phoenix Bindery. In 2001, after 16 years of loyal service at large antiquarian bookseller De Slegte in The Hague, Paul joined Antiquariaat Fokas Holthuis. In the meantime he has developed his own specializations under the name Paulbooks: typography, unusual literature, deluxe and strange-shaped books, history, transport, old books (really old!), trade catalogs, miniature books, sexology and homosexuality from the past, anything that is remarkable and amusing.

We are mainly an internet antiquarian bookshop. Our backbone is the newsletter, showing mainly literature in Dutch, which appears once or twice a week. A Paulbooks Alert containing international books is sent to subscribers about 4-6 times a year. We also participate in national and international search engines, such as Antiqbook, Boekwinkeltjes, Abebooks and Booklooker, that all have their own character. We work with subject catalogs – you find these longlisted here. Our visiting address (by appointment only):  Daal en Bergselaan 78, 2565 AG  Den Haag.