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Obituaries

Edward Gillespie Nairn 1918-2013

The Aberdeen University Press Concise Scots Dictionary defines ‘Keelie’ as ‘a rough male city-dweller, a tough, now esp from the Glasgow area, orig with an implication of criminal tendencies’, so it is inconceivable that anyone could agree with Edward's description of himself as ‘just a Glesca keelie’ ... Read more

Michael Silverman 1949-2011

With the untimely death of Michael Silverman, the world of literary and historical manuscripts has lost one of its most respected dealers, and the antiquarian trade in general a much loved and popular colleague. Internationally acknowledged as a dealer of great integrity and expertise, Michael wore his knowledge lightly. He liked to affect an air of mild indifference to the exceptional material that often passed through his hands ... Read more

Alan Shelley 1941-2009

The death of Alan Shelley from cancer at the age of sixty-eight on November 18th 2009 at Chailey Hospice, near Lewes, was an occasion of great sadness to his family and to his many friends both within and without the rare book trade. He had resigned from the presidency of the ABA only three weeks before on the grounds of ill health after a notably successful spell at a difficult time in the Association’s affairs ... Read more

Paul Breman 1931-2008

Paul Breman, who died on the 29th October 2008, at the age of seventy-seven was a maverick among booksellers, a cataloguer who actually looked at his books afresh and was not prepared to recycle other people’s notes. This professional approach he had learnt with Horodisch in Amsterdam and with the firm of E. P. Goldschmidt in London where he worked from 1959 to 1963. Goldschmidt catalogue 126 “Sixteenth century printing: Lyon and Paris”, was regarded by Paul as his ‘coming of age piece’. Read more

Lord Parmoor 1929-2008

There was an air of the doldrums about Quaritch in the late 1960s. The lease on the premises at Grafton Street was about to expire, and to the far-flung descendants of the Quaritch family the business no longer had meaning. Within a matter of a few years this was all to change: new premises in Golden Square (1970), a new owner, and Milo Cripps ... Read more