Bookseller Interviews

Jim Presgraves got his start in the book business at the young age of 12 after attending an auction and he’s never looked back. He established a bookstore in 1973 after years of private quotation and catalog sales.

Bookworm & Silverfish operated out of Wytheville, VA, and specialized in 19th Century Sheet Music, Americana, Appraisals, Genealogy, General, Technical, Virginia, and West Virginia. He was an ABAA Member from 1977 to 2022. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Forrest Proper started an art and antique business at a young age but quickly fell into the book business.

Joslin Hall Rare Books is located in Northampton, MA and specializes in Antique Reference, Antiques & Collecting, Architecture, American Art, Applied & Decorative Art, Forgery, and Technology. ABAA Member since 1995. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 15, 2014 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Richard C. Ramer has been a bookseller since 1970. Richard specializes in fine and rare books pertaining to Portugal, Brazil, Former Portuguese Possessions in Asia and Africa, Spain, the Philippines and Latin America in all subjects from all periods. He works out of New York City and Lisboa, Portugal. ABAA Member since 1975. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on April 10, 2010 at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Ronald R. Randall of Randall House in Santa Barbara, CA comes from a bookish family- his father was a well known librarian and book dealer who published an autobiography, Dukedom Large Enough, about the trade. Ronald served on the Board of Governors and sat as Membership Chair during the 1980s. Randall House specializes in Fine and Rare books in many fields with a current emphasis on Sporting Books, the American Revolutionary War and Women's Studies. ABAA Member from 1975-2023. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 16, 2013 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in San Francisco.

William Reese founded William Reese Company in New Haven in 1975. William earned a reputation as one of the foremost American booksellers and a leading specialist in Americana and world travel. He published works related to Americana bibliography and numerous articles on book collecting and the rare book trade.  

William Reese Company specializes in Americana of all periods and areas, Atlases and Maps, English, American and Continental Literature, Natural History, Travel, and Voyages. ABAA Member from 1980-2018. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on April 10, 2010 at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Jo Ann Reisler of Vienna, VA has been a bookseller since 1972. Jo Ann Reisler Ltd. specializes in Children's Books, Illustrated Books, Original Illustrative Art, Early Paper Dolls and Toys, Oz and Baumania, Fairy Tales, Pop-Ups and Novelties, Potter, Disney, Suess, N.C. Wyeth, Rackham, and Black Interest. ABAA Member since 1976. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Kenneth W. Rendell of New York, NY got his start in the business in the 1950s when he traded his collection of English medieval coins for a friend's collection of Presidential letters.  Ken was hooked by "the feeling of intimacy with history that these letters gave [him]" and quickly moved from dealing in American colonial coinage to American historical letters and documents.  As Ken's business grew so did his areas of speciality, and by the 1970s he was a premiere appraiser of archival collections. Kenneth W. Rendell, Inc. specializes in Autographs, Letters, and Manuscripts. ABAA Member since 1963. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Linwood Respess was introduced to the world of rare books in 1979, while he was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. By the following year he had opened up a shop of his own. In 1981, Lin was joined in his rare book venture by his wife Tucker and L & T Respess Books was born.

L & T Respess Books operates out of Northampton, MA and specializes in Rare Americana, Southern Americana, English & American Literature, Hunting & Fishing, Manuscripts, Ephemera, and General Antiquarian books. ABAA Member since 1987. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Walter has been a member of the ABAA since 2017 and specializes in Film and Stage, LGBTQ History, African American and Latino Film History, Literature into Film, Women in Film and Theater. Walter Reuben, Inc. is located in West Hollywood, California. ABAA Member since 2017. Interviewed by Kara McLaughlin of Little Sages on February 9, 2020 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.

John Reznikoff grew up in Connecticut as the son of two accomplished academics. At the age of 18, John decided that he wanted to leave university so that he could start his own book business. With that, he began a lifelong education in the world of rare books.

University Archives is located in Westport, CT and specializes in History, Presidential material, the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War. ABAA Member since 1993. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 15, 2014 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.

After graduating from college, Chuck took a summer job in a bookstore in Maryland before heading to graduate school in the fall. He never made it to grad school. He grew up loving books, seeking them out wherever he could, pestering his siblings for rides to the local used bookshops and raiding his brothers’ rooms. Quickly adapting to the internet, he now has over 2.5 million items for sale online, from antiquarian material to records, movies, software and games.  He does still enjoys those quiet moments when he can sit down with a stack of books and work with them himself.

Chuck joined the ABAA in 2003. Wonder Book operates out of Frederick, MD and specializes in general antiquarian material.

ABAA Member since 2003. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on November 17, 2018 at the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Barbara Rootenberg founded B. & L. Rootenberg Rare Books & Manuscripts in 1970 and has been a member of the ABAA since 1976. B. & L. Rootenberg Rare Books & Manuscripts is located in Sherman Oaks, CA and specializes in Science, Medicine, Natural History, Technology, Early Printed Books, Mathematics, Literature, Exploration, and Americana.

ABAA Member Since 1971. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.

Howard Rootenberg joined the family business in 1991 after 15 years of practicing law. His mother Barbara founded  B. & L. Rootenberg Rare Books and Manuscripts in the mid 1960s and she became a member of the ABAA in 1977. Howard became a member of the Association In 2000.
B. & L. Rootenberg Rare Books and Manuscripts operates out of Sherman Oaks, CA and specializes in Early Printed Books, Science, Medicine, Natural History, Darwin & Evolution, Travel, Voyages, Exploration, Americana, Mathematics, and Literature. ABAA Member since 1977. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on April 5, 2014 at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Barney is a former President of the Association (1968-1970) and also served on the Board of Governors. He remains active in the book world to this day. ABAA Member from 1952, Emeritus since 2021, until his passing in 2017. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 16, 2013 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in San Francisco.

Please visit the following link to read Barney's interview with Daniel J. Slive: http://rbm.acrl.org/content/4/1/45.full.pdf

Chet Ross left his successful career in the high pressure world of art and design for rare books and established his first business in 2001.

Chet Ross Rare Books operates out of Southworth, WA, and specializes in Exploration of the Polar Regions, Exploration & Travel, Nobu Shirase, and the Japanese Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1912. ABAA Member since 2009. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg on February 8, 2014 at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena.

Robert H. Rubin of Brookline, MA was in the rare book business from 1970 until 2020. Robert H. Rubin Books specializes in Economy, Law, Americana, Philosophy, Social Science, and the History of Ideas. ABAA Member from 1980-2020. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

Robert Rulon-Miller, Jr. has been involved in the antiquarian book trade probably for as long as he can remember. His father, Robert Rulon-Miller, Sr., was a respected bookman and a former of the ABAA. After graduating from college, Rob became a full-time bookseller, first with his late father's firm, The Current Company, and later on his own with Rulon-Miller Books. Rob is a past President of the ABAA and a faculty member at the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar.

Rulon-Miller Books operates out of St. Paul, MN and specializes in Rare, Fine & Interesting Books in Many Fields, First Editions, Americana, Literature, Fine & Early Printing, Travel, History of Language, and Appraisals. ABAA Member since 1975. Interviewed by Michael Ginsberg 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.