Rare Book Monthly
Articles - December - 2002 Issue
Conversing with Mr. Americana: Talking Books With Bill Reese
Americana Catalgouer Nick Aretakis at work
That interest in history is what draws people to Americana. Often they are interested in the history of a particular geographic community in which they live or grew up.
AT: What are/were the qualifications for including a book or manuscript in your inventory or catalogues?
BR: The criteria? Something that I feel I can justify asking a higher price to sell than to pay for. This is a necessary factor to buy them for stock. You’ve got to find things where you can add an increment of value to what you’re asking for them, either because you buy them for less money or because you know something about them that others don’t know and can explain it to the collectors. I can take what may look like a boring government document and can explain its historical context, its import. Hopefully after my explanation, the work assumes the relevance it really had in American history. Another thing we do to add value to things is to physically fix them through conservation. We farm our conservation out. It’s not easy to get done and get it done right. Conservators have difference specialties. Conservation is a real service that does add an increment of value to a book.
AT: What in your opinion are the strengths of your shop and its inventory?
BR: I think I can safely say that in terms of Americana we have the largest stock in the sense of the combination of quality and quantity than anybody in the country and we have one of the best organized stocks. We have a comprehensive cataloging system, held in an integrated database.
AT: How many people work at your shop? What are their respective roles?
BR: Nick Aretakis and Joe Newman are my main assistants in Americana these days. They do most of the cataloguing and research. I go over the catalogues when they are done and edit/add to/delete from them. Also some of the older descriptions are based on cataloguing that I did originally. I also do the buying, and I price things. Usually when I buy I have some vision of pricing, but depending on the cataloguing and once the cataloguing process is over, those prices can change.
AT: Do you collect books personally as well as professionally? If so, in what areas/categories?
BR: For a long time, I have collected 19th Century American color plate books. This is my personal collection. Selections from it were shown at the Grolier Club three years ago. That catalogue is now a standard reference work in that area.
