Our Story

Imperial Fine Books Inc. was established in 1989 by Bibi Mohamed, who has been in the field of collectable, rare, and fine books for over 35 years. This family-owned and operated business is New York City's leading specialist in rare/collectable leatherbound sets and fine bindings in all fields: literature, history, sporting, politics, Americana, horticulture, religion,  colorplate, illustrated, first editions, Cosway, jeweled, and exhibition bindings.

Photo of Fine Binding Books

Located in NYC's Upper East Side, Imperial Fine Books is one of Madison Avenue's elite world of second floor galleries; quite often inaccessible and prohibitive. Imperial is, on the other hand, brightly lit, hospitable and refreshingly affordable. The generous open shelves beckon the pleasures of leatherbound volumes plump with aged paper containing quaint prints, drawings and engravings. A multitude of sets (some as many as 45 volumes) compete for attention by the dazzling craftsmanship of gold tooling, raised bands, and multicolored labels. Shelves of single volumes are each exquisite jewels.

Imperial excels at personal service and custom work. Searching for titles is a painstaking chore which the shop will gladly take on, as well as the rebinding, restoration, and cleaning of books. The mammoth undertaking of installing an entire tastefully arranged library in your home or office is a specialty of the shop.

Over the years, Ms. Mohamed and her staff have worked with some of the most well respected designers, including Scott Snyder, Cullman & Kravis, Michael Simon and Scott Salvatore, to name a few. Together they have created exquisite custom collections that range from a few rare titles to entire private libraries for their clients. Their hard work has earned them praise in several leading publications, including Town and Country, Architectural Digest and the New York Times.