Running an open shop can be a lot of fun, and you meet some really fascinating people, but ultimately, you are forced to be more of a generalist in an open shop situation. When Dragon moved from Bel-Air to Venice, I decided it was time - the new location was going to be much larger, and have a lot more foot traffic which meant more and more of my time would be spent running a retail shop, and less would spent doing what I loved about the rare book business - going to book-fairs & auctions, scouting, and handling books. It was really a crash course in running my own business, and after five years there, I realized I was quite good at it. I was lucky enough to be in a position at Dragon Books where I was trusted to do everything, from the general cataloguing, buying and selling to making financial decisions, handling the books, signing all the checks, doing the payroll and the like. What inspired the move?ĬH: Ever since my days at Rootenberg, I knew that I eventually wanted to go out on my own - while I loved doing the research and cataloguing, I was also very interested in the business side of things. NP: You've just recently decided to branch out on your own, after managing Dragon Books for several years. I can't think of a more exciting job (other than being an astronaut), and still can't believe that I was lucky enough to fall into it. It was the best first day on the job ever - a few weeks later, I had Einstein's manuscripts on Unified Field Theory on my desk, next to a copy of Euclid's Elementa (1533) and Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica (1543). On the first day they handed me a copy of Hildegard von Bingen's Physica (1533), and a stack of illustrated 17th century medical books to collate and research. Serendipity! I had always been interested in the history of science and old books, (I actually started collecting books when I was about seven years old) but really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no real experience handling rare books, but they needed someone with a background in history and knowledge of several languages, so they hired me. I was broke, and honestly took the first job I could find, which was as a cataloguer and assistant for Rootenberg Books. I got my start a little over eight years ago, when I had moved back to Los Angeles from France. NP: How did you get started in rare books?ĬH: It was really by accident, as is often the case. Our series profiling the next generation of antiquarian booksellers continues today with Cassandra Hatton, proprietor of the soon-to-launch Cassandra Hatton Rare Books in California.
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