An Old Fashioned Book Seller: An Interview with Harold Nestler
Harold Nestler’s calling card
HN: How and why did I start being a book dealer? [Long pause.] Well, when I was a kid, I was born with a hernia and was not allowed to run around, play ball, et cetera. As a consequence I did a lot of reading. I got interested in the local area of Poughkeepsie, and started picking up books and pamphlets on the subject. Then my family moved to New Jersey, first to Patterson, then eventually here. I took all of my books and pamphlets with me when we moved.
At the same time, I then subscribed to The Rural New Yorker, an agricultural magazine, to stay in contact with New York State. I saw an ad from a fellow in Cape Cod who wanted old historical books. I wrote to him. He wasn’t interested, but he gave me the name of a man who would be interested. This guy came to the house. This was in 1952. He bought one book from me, for one dollar – a local history book of some sort. Then later on I went to his house to look at books, and I bought a book from him for one dollar. (No, not the same book!) So this fellow said: why don’t you follow me, maybe you can make some money. So I did. Together we went to library sales, house book sales – no bookstores at that time. I was then concentrating on buying Evangelical religious books, in keeping with my faith. I started to make up lists and I sent them out to bible schools, religious colleges, et cetera. I figure I made around three dollars a week on the average selling books at that time.
AT: Did you have a full time job at the time to back you up?
HN: Yes. At the time I was driving a milk truck, delivering milk house to house. This was a very difficult and demanding job. The book business was just a part time avocation. For fifteen years or so I drove that milk truck. Then one day, my daughter wanted to go to visit Houghton College, a Wesleyan Methodist college, as she was looking at universities. And my boss at the milk company wouldn’t let me off of my milk route for a day to take my daughter to visit this college – so I quit. Then I went and took the Postal exam, and soon I was delivering mail house to house. This was like a walking vacation compared to the milk route, which was really tiring.
Meanwhile, I was still buying and selling books on the side. This is from approximately 1952 to 1970. Finally, my daughter finished school, we paid off the mortgage on our house, and then sometime in the 70s I quit the Postal Service and went full time into book dealing.
AT: How did you advertise and build up your business in those early days, particularly when you were working at other jobs simultaneously?
HN: Cataloguing or creating catalogues was (and still is) my main form of advertising. Over time, I had slowed down on religious books and had moved mostly to American history and Americana. I also was an early advocate of local history, issuing catalogues about New England or Pennsylvania or the South West. But back then I dealt in almost anything: dog books, Communism, you name it. My lists were very eclectic, to say the least.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
