About Mobilis Books
❧ I’m Dr Emerson Richards & I would like to welcome you to Mobilis Books, an online rare and antiquarian book shop specializing in medieval manuscripts, medievalism, and interestingly illustrated books from the 15th to 19th centuries. We're based in Central Florida.
❧ Mobilis Books was founded in Bloomington, Indiana in 2019, and moved with me to Manchester, England, and Cambridge, where we became a member of the Provincial Book Fair Association in 2022. During this time, Mobilis Books exhibited at fairs in London, York, Oxford, Cambridge, and Harrogate. In 2024, we joined Independent Online Booksellers Association & relocated ourselves and Mobilis Books to Geneva, Florida.
Our three goals are to further the network between trade in U.K. and U.S.; to make material from the British and European markets accessible to American collectors; and, to place research-worthy books into institutional collections.
❧ I love being a rare bookseller because it allows me to curate a collection and tell the stories of books and manuscripts and the people who held them while being a small moment in the long history of the book—and then seeing these materials journey on to the next step in their book-lives.
❧ I've been a professional cataloguer/bibliographer since 2015. I held the position of Rare Books Cataloguer at Pembroke College, Cambridge University (2021-2024) and my catalogue records can be seen in collections including the University of Kentucky, the John Rylands Research Insititute, Yale University, and the Portico Library. I also lend my expertise to the trade, having worked with dealers and private collectors as an independent consultant.