History

Norli has not left Universitetsgaten since 1890!

Olaf Norlis Boghandel opened on 15 May 1890 in Universitetsgaten 24, where Laura Ashley is today. More buildings were added and Norlis came to rule the street. Norlis has been in Universitetsgaten in one form or another since 1890! Olaf Norli started a "regular" book shop, but he believed in the sale and purchase of used books from the beginning. The opening advertisement mentions sale of both old and new books as equal products. The antiquarian part has as such always been part of the shop. We are happy to have a copy of Norli's first catalogue on display in the shop.

By Nina Welle for the 125th anniversary in 2015. Nina is an honorary member of the Norwegian Antiquarian Bookseller's Association and grandchild to Bjarne Welle. She took over, alongside Rolf Warendorph, after her father Hans Christian Welle.

Olaf Norli started a "regular" book shop, but he believed in the sale and purchase of used books from the beginning. The opening advertisement mentions sale of both old and new books as equal products. The antiquarian part has as such always been part of the shop. We are happy to have a copy of Norli's first catalogue on display in the shop.

Olaf Norli died without heirs, and my grandfather Bjarne Welle therefore got the opportunity to take over the business. He had started as early as 1893 at 15 years old, as an errand boy. When he died in 1948, my father Hans Christian Welle took over. He sold in 1985, and the business ties to Norlis Bokhandel was amicably broken. The antiquarian shop has been on its own since.

After father's death, Rolf Warendorph and I took over (he had started working with us in 1982). We ran the shop together until I retired in 2014. At that point there had been a Welle in Norli for 111 years in a row. My part of Norlis Antikvariat and the general management is now taken over by Thor Gunnar Næss.

The shop has been in Universitetsgaten 18 since 1982, longer than the 25 years this summary concerns since the 100th anniversary in 1990. The shop was very small at first – only the ground floor – but in 1990 we were able to rent the 1st floor as well and built a staircase. After that, it was a fresh wind for us employees, having enough room was wonderful! When we arrived in Universitetsgaten 18 in 1982, the ground floor was refurbished. The first floor were a bit more randomly put together, more of a bit-by-bit development. But then Thor Gunnar and his impeccable taste arrived. As you know, the premises were refurbished again last year. I think it looks great!

Those of you who have been with us a while have seen that there is little exchange of employees. Extra help has come and gone, but the regular staff has been incredibly stable. There has only been 6 employees in the last 25 years! That says something about our working environment and the fun daily challenges of our trade.

I personally had a break in 1994-95 when I studied for a year at University College of London with a diploma in "Antiquarian Bookselling". This education is no longer available. As such I am the only person in Norway who can rightly call myself "diploma antiquarian", something we've had a lot of fun with. I retired on the 1st of January 2014.

The most important development in the last 25 years has been the transition to computers. Being able to register books in a machine that actually remembers what you put in, has eased our workload more than we could imagine when we started.

Previously the most important books were catalogued on index cards, and then it was up to each of us to remember the rest. To start with with registered with a normal text program, but in 1994 we got a proper book cataloguing software for Mac, and then it was the real deal. Every book ever catalogued by us is still on the Mac and is in a solid database that we can check when we buy or catalogue new books, etc.

In the early 2000s we started putting our books on antikvariat.net, and at that point we already had a good base to present.

With that in mind I want to tell the story of the memorable day when we were still pretty green about all this. The books were, as usual, being put online before the weekend. By mistake (which we could later bitterly regret) everything we had ever catalogued was put online as if we still had the books, and sometimes with very old pricing. The next morning we had a line outside and 500 orders in our inbox! There was nothing to do but send apologies, phone apologies and almost beg forgiveness from all those in line. We will never forget it!

As one of a few antiquarian bookshops, Norlis Anrikvariat still publish printed catalogues with special books, usually four times a year. There is actually a lot of people who still enjoy receiving the paper copy, and some still order by mail. Admittedly it is published simultaneously digitally, both by email and on Facebook to the enjoyment of those who prefer the digital!