William Reese Company to Live on Under New Ownership
- by Bruce E. McKinney
LTR Nick Aretakis, Peter Harrington, James Cummins, and Terry Halladay
The news is official. The William Reese Co, ABAA, ILAB is to live on Under New Ownership. Bill Reese slipped away from this mortal coil four years ago and his firm has now been transferred to the welcoming hands of Peter Harrington and James Cummins who have long partnered with the Reese Company.
In addition to buying the Reese Company, they have also purchased about 40,000 items from the firm's inventory.
Nick Aretakis who has been managing Americana at the Reese Company for the past 4 years has been named as Managing Director of the whole shebang. Terry Halladay, Bill’s long time partner will continue to be the Reese Company’s Literature Manager.
Here is the official news release:
William Reese Company to Live on Under New Ownership
Antiquarian book business has been purchased with significant inventory of around 40,000 items, with day-to-day operations continuing seamlessly under long-term Reese Company stalwart Nick Aretakis.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2022: The William Reese Company, the world’s leading antiquarian bookseller of printed and manuscript Americana, is pleased to announce the continuation of the William Reese name and bookselling tradition under the new ownership of a joint venture between New York-based James Cummins Bookseller and Peter Harrington, London. Business will continue at the company’s existing premises in Temple Street, New Haven.
The late William S. Reese (1955-2018), renowned as one of the foremost dealers of antiquarian books of his generation, founded the New Haven, Connecticut-based William Reese Company in 1975, leaving an indelible impact on both the trade and book collectors worldwide. Following his untimely death four years ago, the company has successfully continued under the leadership of his widow Dorothy Hurt, with the Literature department led by long-time Reese Company specialist Terry Halladay and the Americana department by Nick Aretakis. The team will be expanded next month with the addition of two new book specialists in Americana.
The business has been bought along with its significant inventory of around 40,000 items. Day-to-day operations will continue seamlessly under Aretakis, without change to the Reese Company’s highest bookselling standards and customer service. The location, name and contact details of the business will also remain unchanged, and printed catalogues and e-lists will continue to be frequently issued. James Cummins Bookseller and Peter Harrington are proud to be part of the continued legacy of William Reese.
"It was always my goal to have the William Reese Company carry on as a leading antiquarian bookseller and it gives me great pleasure that Peter Harrington, James Cummins and Nick Aretakis will continue the business in Bill’s tradition. The William Reese Company has always been synonymous with Americana at the highest level and I look forward to seeing the business continue to succeed,” says Dorothy Hurt.
Sotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000.
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
