Bonhams To handle the Dispersal of the Serendipity Book Shop
- by Bruce E. McKinney
Peter Howard: the man and his books
Bonhams has been given the responsibility of dispersing the stock of Serendipity, the Berkeley, California used and rare bookseller that for many years was located at 1201 University Avenue. The dispersal, scheduled to begin in February with an auction of important material, follows the death of its founder, Peter Howard, who passed away on March 31st 2011. Mr. Howard left behind a community of collectors, an army of advocates and a thinning crowd who remember him as tough to deal with. What all remember is his exceptional judgment for books and sundry related materials. In Bonhams’ dispersal his style and opinions will be on full display.
On February 12th a sale of fine material is scheduled. This event will coincide with the ABAA Book Fair in Southern California. Other material will be offered via the weekly estate sales that Bonhams conducts. The high majority of the material however will be offered as shelf sales at the firm’s current Berkley location but no date has yet been set for reopening the shop to accommodate browsers.
Mr. Howard, in addition to his acquisitions of books, acquired substantial collections of entertainment material including scripts as well as an extensive inventory of Art and related subjects. These categories will be dispersed sometime in the future.
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