Meet the latest antiquarian booksellers accepted as members of the ABAA.
New Full Members:
Donald Lippincott, Open Boat Booksellers
Don Lippincott is a lifelong New Englander and has been involved in the book trade since 2011.
Patrick Olson, Patrick Olson Rare Books
Patrick Olson has been indulging an interest in old books since high school. He first joined the rare book trade in Chicago in 2003, during his junior year of college. Four years later, after receiving his MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he embarked upon a decade-long detour holding a variety of professional positions working with rare books: as a rare book cataloger at the University of Illinois and MIT, as a curator at the University of Iowa, and then as a curator and eventually Head of Special Collections at Michigan State University. For six years, he taught rare book cataloging for the University of Illinois’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Patrick returned to the trade, under his own name, in 2018. He specializes in early print in all fields, with a particular fondness for unusual continental material.
Richard Thorner, Resser-Thorner Americana
Richard Thorner of Resser-Thorner Americana first exhibited as a specialist in paper/ephemera at several New England shows in 1993. His “paper roots,” however, are verifed as having started around 1972, through a childhood photograph of him examing a library of books purchased by his mother. Throughout the late 1970’s and 80’s, he partially supported himself in high school, college, and law school by doing shows local to his home of Manchester, New Hampshire--a location from which, apart from education and travel, he has never migrated. One of Richard’s early mentors in ephemera was Roberta Carr of Concord, New Hampshire, a pioneer dealer in the field. Currently, he specializes in historic paper, archives, autographs, books with an association, 17th and 18th century mezzotints, and other important visual material.
Richard provided top billing to his wife, Ann, in the selection of his company name; “Resser” being her family name (although she has adopted “Thorner” as her last name). Ann takes part in the business while pursuing her career in occupational therapy having recently earned her doctorate in the field. Their daughter, Katherine, is a high school junior, and she continues to be seen at many of her parents’ shows.
Bryan Young, Grayshelf Books
Bryan and Kelly Young started Grayshelf Books in 2018 after years of being modern first edition collectors. The business is conducted primarily online through a number of platforms; Bryan and Kelly also exhibit at a number of Book Fairs around the country including St. Petersburg, Boston, and in their native Texas, where Bryan currently serves as the President of the Texas Booksellers Association. The primary focus of the business is modern first editions, specializing in literature, science fiction, and horror; Grayshelf also offers items in economics, science, and a number of other genres.
Bryan and Kelly operate Grayshelf Books from their home in Tomball, Texas, where they live with their daughter Ella and their two pups, Thomas and Archie. They also have two sons, both graduates of Texas A&M University (as are Bryan and Kelly), one in Pennsylvania and one in Portland, Oregon.