Peter Bernett's parents founded F.A. Bernett Books over seventy years ago when they arrived in New York from Berlin. The Bernetts were art historians, which became the foundation of their book business. Peter entered the trade and the family business over forty years ago. F.A. Bernett Books is located in Boston, MA and specializes in Art, Architecture, Archeology, Design, Social History and Visual Culture from antiquity to the present. ABAA Member since 1994. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 15, 2014 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.
Bookseller Interviews
A few years ago, Michael Ginsberg embarked upon an archival journey for the ABAA. Recognizing the absence of member histories in the ABAA annals, Michael began conducting video interviews of members at our three annual fairs. The interviews cover members' personal histories as well as their involvement in the rare book trade. The ABAA extends many thanks to Michael, as well as Taylor Bowie, who has also conducted a number of interviews.
Peter Bernett's parents founded F.A. Bernett Books over seventy years ago when they arrived in New York from Berlin. The Bernetts were art historians, which became the foundation of their book business. Peter entered the trade and the family business over forty years ago. F.A. Bernett Books is located in Boston, MA and specializes in Art, Architecture, Archeology, Design, Social History and Visual Culture from antiquity to the present. ABAA Member since 1994. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 15, 2014 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.
Joyce Kosofsky grew up in a small oceanside town on the outskirts of Boston and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she studied journalism and mass media. After working for local news outlets for a few years, Joyce entered the trade in the late 1970s, when she began working at the Brattle Book Shop with Ken Gloss, her future husband and business partner. The rest, as they say, is history. Joyce has been a member of the ABAA since 1984. She serves on the Board of Governors and is the current Chair of the Ethics Committee. The celebrated Brattle Book Shop is located in Boston, MA and has over 150,000 books on all subjects. They specialize in not specializing. ABAA Member since 1984. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 11, 2017 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.
Phil Salmon began his bookselling career in 1994, the consequence of a collecting interest in the poet Robert Frost. He spent several years working as a freelance cataloger, book scout, and he operated his own internet bookselling firm before moving to Portugal in 1998. He joined Bromer Booksellers in 2000, and has since become an integral part of the firm, exhibiting at bookfairs and showcases around the country, attending auctions, and managing the day-to-day buying and selling that is part and parcel of a rare book operation. Phil considers it "an honor and a privilege" to do what he loves for a living. ABAA Member since 2004. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Nicholas Potter has been the owner of Nicholas Potter Books in New Mexico for over forty years. His shop maintains an inventory of distinctive books in many fields, with an emphasis on literature, art, bindings, photography, southwest Americana, history, and children's and illustrated books. ABAA Member since 1979. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Larisa Cassell was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1952. Along with her husband and partner, Chris, Larisa is the owner of Green Gate Farm Antiquarian Books in Richmond, Missouri. During her recent tenure as President of the Missouri Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress, Larisa was the leading force behind the establishment of a literary prize in the name of her friend and mentor in the antiquarian book trade, ABAA emeritus member, Ardis L. Glenn. ABAA Member since 2002. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Jeremy Norman is the owner of the sites HistoryofScience.com, HistoryofMedicine.com, and HistoryofInformation.com. For more than forty years, he has helped to develop superb private libraries and major institutional holdings of rare books and manuscripts on the history of science, medicine, and technology. ABAA Member since 1974. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Bruce Howard assists his wife Evi Howard in operating Bookbid Books. Bookbid is based in Beverly Hills, CA and also has offices in Sherman Oaks, CA. It specializes in modern first editions and children’s books. ABAA Member since 2010. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Heather O'Donnell got her start in rare books in the stacks of the Beinecke Library, where she worked as a curatorial assistant during her grad school years at Yale, and learned the trade in the New York gallery of Bauman Rare Books. In 2011, Heather launched Honey & Wax Booksellers in Brooklyn, specializing in rare, striking, and curious examples of literary classics. She is a graduate of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and Rare Book School, and a member of the Grolier Club. ABAA Member since 2015. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Following his retirement as Army officer in 1994, Kurt Sanftleben was selected to be the Director of the Marine Corps Research Center at Quantico, Virginia, which included the Library of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections as subordinate components. After he retired from that position in 2012, he began to focus more attention on his part-time bookselling business, Read’Em Again Books. Although Kurt and his wife, Gail, have a small general stock of non-fiction books, their inventory consists primarily of ephemera and unique 'personal narrative' items such as diaries, photograph albums, correspondence collections, scrapbooks, and similar materials. ABAA Member since 2014. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Bruce Barnett, who began as a collector of antiquarian books roughly 40 years ago, is the owner of The Book Block. In addition to being a bookseller, Bruce was an antiques dealer with a shop in Connecticut. Trained in law and finance, he has been a practicing attorney and chief financial officer of a biotechnology company. Bruce also provides appraisal services and owing to his background as a tax attorney, he is particularly knowledgeable about IRS rules and regulations. Bruce first joined the ABAA as an associate member in 2004, and became a full member in 2008. ABAA Member since 2004. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Ben Weinstein has been in the antiquarian book trade for over fifty years. Ben is the owner of Heritage Book Shop in California and has been a longtime member of the ABAA. ABAA Member Since 1973. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Ben Kinmont is an antiquarian bookseller specializing in 15th to 19th century books about food and wine. The business started in 1998 in Lower Manhattan and issues approximately one catalogue a year. In addition to attending various auctions around the world, he participates in book fairs in Los Angeles, Milan, New York City, Paris, and San Francisco. Ben joined the ABAA in 2001. ABAA Member Since 2001. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Alexander Akin, Ph.D., whose first international trip was a visit to North Korea at the age of 15, first started part-time at Bolerium while finishing a degree in Chinese history at Harvard University. He has taught at Brandeis University and Roxbury Latin School, and is the author of works on East Asian cartography and medieval Islamic numismatics. He has expanded the bookstore’s purview to include Asian language materials, while also serving as cataloguer of materials related to the international labor movement. Alexander joined the ABAA as an associate member in 2011. ABAA Member Since 2011. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 14, 2016 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.
Bibi T. Mohamed emigrated from Guyana in the early 1970s when she was a teenager. Bibi quickly became involved in the antiquarian book trade and worked for J.N. Bartfield for over a decade. She established Imperial Fine Books in 1986 and became a member of the ABAA in 1990. Imperial Fine Books Inc. operates out of New York, NY and specializes in Leatherbound Sets, Cosways, Jewelled Bindings, Fore-Edge Paintings, Children's, Illustrated, Americana, Sporting, Colorplates, and First Editions. ABAA Member Since 1990. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 15, 2014 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.
Jay Platt decided to devote his life to bookselling after a visit to New York's 'Book Row' in the late 1960s. Jay opened his own shop in 1975. West Side Book Shop operates out of Ann Arbor, MI and specializes in Polar Exploration, Voyages & Travel, Americana, Modern First Editions, Mysteries & Detective Fiction, Photography, and Edward S. Curtis. ABAA Member since 1980. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 15, 2014 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.