This past weekend, I watched a film I got through Netflix's DVD service called "The Booksellers." It was made in 2019 and released in March 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Booksellers
The documentary film was very entertaining and informative, and featured interviews with booksellers talking about the past, present and future of bookselling.
Among the booksellers featured in the film was William Reese, who specialized in historical Americana. It wasn't until the end when a Memoriam scrolled prior to the credits that I learned he passed away in 2018!
I googled William Reese immediately afterward and learned he died of prostate cancer on June 4, 2018 at the young age of 62.
I never had any dealings with him (way out of my league, obviously), but I did see him once at a book auction in New York back in 2010.
I had the good fortune of taking a bus trip from Maryland to NYC on December 3rd with one of my girlfriends. We were on a tour that took us to Ground Zero, as well as Rockefeller Center and the Radio City Christmas Show.
I knew there was an Americana Auction at Bonham's on that very day, starting at 1:00 p.m. I would have preferred going to the auction over the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Show, but I knew my friend wouldn't want to attend the auction, since she's not really into books (or auctions, for that matter).
However, luck was with me and I managed to talk her into going there with me for just a few minutes at the start of the auction (1:00 p.m.) before the Christmas Show started at 2:00 p.m.
We trudged through the New York cold and wind for many long, crowded blocks and actually walked past Bonham's by mistake. It was only when we saw the F.A.O. Schwartz storefront that we realized we went too far. So we had to backtrack.
When we got inside, it was a magical place! I've never personally attended a high-end book auction before. I did make a point of asking if it was all right for my friend and I to attend without registering to bid before we got on the elevator to the Mezzanine level and they were very welcoming.
After looking at the lots on display, we lurked near the elevator. I was dying to take a photo, but didn't think that would go over very well.
My friend -- having never attended an auction of any kind before -- was deathly afraid that she would twitch or move and thereby inadvertently bid! Of course, we never registered for bidding paddles, so it was impossible to buy anything, but she had the usual beginner's fear of auctions. It was funny to watch her.
Before the auction began, I walked around the glass cases with my friend and showed her some of the lots and their high estimates. She was amazed at the prices. She couldn't believe anyone would spend that much on a book of any kind.
Most of the books were closed shut in their bindings, but there was an occasional manuscript or two that was free-standing, so she could get an idea of the historical significance of the collection.
The vast majority of the room attendees were men. (Why are most book collectors men? Are there no wealthy women book collectors?)
I only saw one seated woman in the audience. There was one other woman standing near the elevator ... it turned out she was bidding on behalf of a client (who was one on the phone with her).
The auction staff was very polite. There were no empty chairs, except in the front row. The staff started pulling chairs from an adjacent room, and offered chairs to my friend and me, but we declined, because we knew we could only stay for a brief time (and clearly couldn't afford anything there!).
Just before the auction started, a very rumpled-looking man with tattered shoes wandered in. I was very impressed to see the auction staff rush over to fetch a chair for him, so he could sit down.
My friend theorized that he may have been a multi-millionaire masquerading as a homeless man, but I thought he was just an eccentric book lover who came to the auction to watch. The cool thing is that Bonham's was very accommodating to all who entered their premises.
Because the auctioneer spent a lot of time prefacing the auction with general comments and making sure the connection to San Francisco was working properly (it was an auction simulcast between two coasts ... definitely a nice "Americana" touch!), we could only stay for the bidding on two lots, before we trudged back to Rockefeller Center.
However, we got to see the first book sell for $12,000 (a room bid) and watched as the second lot shot quickly from $15,000 to $55,000!
It wasn't until I posted this story on the BSB way back in 2010 that Joe (fine.books) asked me if the "eccentric man' was wearing a knit hat. I said yes, and Joe informed me that the man was Bill Reese! He apparently often wore this knit hat.
So the man I thought was homeless (and, believe me, I was so impressed with how nice Bonham's was to this random man off the street!) turned out to be the famous William Reese. I actually had the privilege of seeing him in action.
R.I.P. Mr. Reese! And for all you male booksellers out there, be sure to get your prostate checked! How sad to lose this amazing bookseller at such a young age.
